Kitten Love
by kisshuismylife
Summary: Kisshu finds Ichigo in cat form and brings her back to his ship, unknowing that his new pet is really Ichigo. This will probably be pretty fluffy, so if you like fluff, you've come to the right story!
1. Captured!

**Kitten Love Chapter 1:**

**Captured!**

Kisshu was walking around Tokyo at night. He had been having a bad day, and finally went to Earth to cool off. _I know Pai has a crush on Fish-girl, so why doesn't he understand my love for Ichigo? _Kisshu thought.

_**Flashback: **__Kisshu came back from another fight with the Mews to find an irritated Pai waiting for him. "WHY can't you ever win?" Pai asked exasperatedly. "Just get over the cat Mew, and we'll be able to take over the planet!"_

"_I can't get over her; I love her!" Kisshu shouted back. "And I know that you and Taruto have crushes on Fish-girl and Monkey-girl, so don't start on the 'All the Mews are evil' thing with me! The only ones we don't like are Mint and Zakuro."_

"_I will do my duty to Deep Blue regardless of feelings," Pai said sternly. "I suggest you do the same, or you'll get yourself exiled. Besides, Mew Ichigo doesn't even like you!"_

_Kisshu punched Pai in the face, and said, "I'm going to find a way to make her love me the way I love her. Then you'll see that I was right the whole time. And you should know by now that working for Deep Blue is getting us nowhere fast. Why don't you just give it up, Pai?"_

"_I will not leave our people to die!" Pai said. "You're a fool, Kisshu."_

_Kisshu snarled, then teleported back to Earth, making sure to temporarily disable the tracking device he knew Pai had on him. He had discovered it a long time ago, but just didn't tell Pai. Now he could disable it any time he wanted to. _

_When he landed in an alleyway, he realized it was nighttime, which meant he didn't have to deal with a lot of humans._

_**Back to real time: **_Kisshu was just wandering, letting his feet take him wherever, when he heard a small mewing sound. It sounded like something was crying. Deciding that it didn't sound dangerous, Kisshu walked cautiously over to the sound, which was coming from behind a bench. He found a small black kitten with a bow on its tail crying, and knelt down next to it. The kitten opened its eyes, and Kisshu was startled to see that it had hot pink eyes. Deciding that with a pink bow on its tail, it was probably a girl, Kisshu said, "Hi kitty, why were you crying?"

The kitten looked a bit wary, and Kisshu said gently, "I'm not going to hurt you. Did someone abandon you?"

The kitten nodded sadly and let out a small 'myuu'. Kisshu felt sorry for her, and said, "I'll take you home, k?"

The kitten started looking wary again. "I meant my home, I don't know where you lived before you got abandoned," Kisshu said.

The kitten sighed sadly. Kisshu picked her up, and said, "Come on, let's go." He teleported back to the ship, cradling the tiny kitten in his arms.

Pai and Taruto were waiting when he teleported in, and the kitten squeaked. "Kisshu, why did you bring a cat here?" Pai sighed.

"Someone abandoned her, and I heard her crying, so I brought her back," Kisshu said. "What should I name her?"

"Just name her Ichigo," Pai groaned. Then he started muttering something that sounded a lot like, "Why did I get stuck with someone who brings home strays?"

Taruto looked intrigued, and said, "Can I pet her?"

"Be gentle," Kisshu said. Taruto floated up to pet the kitten, who looked nervous. Taruto reached out and gently scratched behind her ears, and she relaxed a bit, then started purring. Taruto floated back, startled. Kisshu chuckled. "Cats make that noise when they're happy," he said. He looked down at the kitten. "I think I'll call you Ichi," he said. "Are you hungry?"

'Ichi' nodded. Kisshu teleported to the ship's kitchen, and got out a bowl, then poured some milk into it. Ichi came over and started lapping up the milk hungrily. Soon she was done, and Kisshu picked her up again. Then he teleported again, and they landed in a large room that was painted dark green. Actually, the whole room was pretty green. There was a window looking out at space with olive green curtains, the bedspread was forest green, and the pillowcases and sheets were spring green. There was also a large emerald green sofa against one wall.

Kisshu gently put Ichi down on the bed, and watched as she curled up for a nap. Realizing he was pretty tired too, Kisshu stripped off his shirt, and took his boots off. Then he carefully moved Ichi over, and climbed under the covers. Ichi was sleeping already, but she snuggled up to Kisshu in her sleep, puzzling him. Then he remembered something about cats being attracted to the warmest thing in the room, and figured that Ichi was cold. He sighed and let her snuggle as he too fell asleep.

Halfway through the night, Kisshu sat bolt upright, having had another nightmare about Ichigo dying. Ichi looked up as Kisshu buried his face in his hands, breathing hard. Finally he took his face out of his hands, and looked at Ichi. "I guess I can tell you," he said softly. "I keep dreaming about Ichigo dying. Ichigo's the girl I love. I wish she didn't hate me, though. I love her with all my heart, but she doesn't get it." Kisshu sighed. "I wish the dreams would go away," he said softly. "It's never the same beginning twice, but they all end the same- with Ichigo dead, and me not able to do a thing about it. I hate feeling that helpless. What good am I if I can't even save the one person I love the most?"

Ichi mewed sadly. Kisshu looked at her, and sighed. "I guess it's kind of pointless to ask someone who probably doesn't understand emotions the way I do," he said. "Although I don't really know what kind of emotions cats have." He laid back down, and watched as Ichi walked over. He was startled when she licked his cheek, but then realized that as usual after a nightmare, he was crying. "I suppose that tastes good?" he asked Ichi sadly.

Ichi stopped licking up his tears and looked at him innocently. Then she curled up next to his pillow, and went back to sleep. Kisshu eventually did the same.

The next morning, Kisshu woke up early to train, and left Ichi sleeping on his bed. Unfortunately, he left the door open, and when Ichi woke up and found him gone, she decided to explore the ship.

_**Ichi's POV: **__Well, at least Kisshu hasn't figured out who I really am. Still, I need to get back to the other Mews, and my parents are probably worried sick. It's only a matter of time before one of the aliens realizes that I'm really Mew Ichigo, and then I'll be done for. It's interesting to know that Kisshu actually does love me, but I can't leave the Earth to them. Even though Masaya dumped me. And he didn't even have a reason, he just said, "Get out of my life", and left. I guess Kisshu was right about him._

_**End POV**_

Suddenly Ichigo noticed Pai heading her way, and flinched. She found him very scary, despite the fact that she knew he had a thing for Lettuce, and that the feeling was more than mutual. She only got more scared when Pai started heading her way. "How did you get out?" he asked her.

Ichigo tilted her head to one side. Pai smacked his forehead. "Stupid Kisshu, probably left his door open again," he muttered. Then he teleported off, much to Ichigo's relief. She decided to keep exploring.

Eventually she came to a room painted orange. She walked in, and saw that one wall was plastered in pictures of Pudding. _I guess this is Taruto's room, _she thought. Then she noticed that Taruto was on the bed. He appeared to be fiddling with something. On closer inspection, it appeared to be a candy drop. _I guess Pudding gave him candy, _Ichigo thought. She was about to leave, when she heard Taruto mutter, "Pai's never going to understand me or Kisshu. He should just give up on Deep Blue. We all know he's not intending to help us, but does Pai care? No. He's turning into a puppet. One of these days….." The rest Ichigo couldn't understand, so she left, and continued down the hall. She looked into a room, and was surprised to see Kisshu fighting a Chimera Anima. He was moving so fast he wasn't visible at times. Soon the Anima was destroyed, and Kisshu landed, breathing hard. _If he can fight like that, why doesn't he when he's fighting us? _Ichigo wondered. Suddenly she remembered Kisshu talking about how much he loved her last night. _He doesn't actually want to kill me, _she thought. _He's going easy on us, even though he could have killed us a long time ago. He must really love me if he's doing that. Maybe I should have thought of this sooner. I wonder what it would be like, if I gave Kisshu the chance he's always hoped for. I know Ryou would have a fit, but he hates me anyways, he can't hate me anymore than he does now._

Suddenly she noticed Kisshu was heading for the door. He came out, and looked shocked to see her there. "Ichi? What are you doing here?" he asked. Ichigo looked at him innocently. Kisshu facepalmed. "I left that door open, right?" he asked. Ichigo nodded. Kisshu sighed. Then he picked her up and teleported back to his room. He put her on the bed, and said, "Stay there, I'm going to take a shower. I'll get you something to eat when I'm done."

Ichigo nodded, and curled up for a catnap. Kisshu smiled slightly, and went to take a shower.

**Okay, another new idea. I don't exactly know where this will go, but it should be fun!**


	2. The Mews

**Kitten Love Chapter 2:**

**The Mews **

While Ichigo was sleeping on Kisshu's bed, the remaining Mews, Ryou and Keiichiro were sitting in the Café, talking over what to do. Ichigo had seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth. Even more strangely, they had found out that Aoyuck had vanished as well. When her friends came in one day to see her, they said that she and Aoyuck had broken up, and that he had been pretty nasty, too. Now the Mews were talking.

"Do you think the aliens have her?" Ryou asked.

"No, or they'd be sending us some kind of ransom demand," Zakuro said.

"What if she killed herself?" Mint asked. "She was totally obsessed with Aoyama."

Pudding's eyes started to tear up, and Lettuce said, "I'm sure she didn't kill herself. That doesn't sound like our Ichigo. And her parents don't know anything either. So that means that she never went home after school."

"Either that, or she couldn't _get _home," Zakuro said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryou asked.

"We know that her emotions going out of control can turn her into a cat," Zakuro said. "If she turned into a cat, that may explain why no one's seen her. We've been looking for her human form, not her cat form."

"But she would have come here," Keiichiro said. "This is the only place where she could turn back to normal safely."

Lettuce's eyes widened. "What if Ryou's right?" she asked. "We haven't seen her here, and with the bell, anyone would think she belonged to someone. If the aliens have her, they may not know that they have her."

"We did sense that one of the aliens was downtown last night, but whoever it was wasn't attacking," Keiichiro said. "Which probably means one thing- Kisshu found her and decided he wanted a pet."

The others looked horrified. "If he doesn't know it's her, she's safe for now," Keiichiro said. "I guess we'll have to wait. We don't have a way of getting to their base, and if they do find out it's her, I'm sure we'll be hearing from them."

The others sighed, but Ryou said, "You're right, we just have to wait. They'll probably attack soon anyways."

The others nodded, and the meeting broke up.

_**Meanwhile, at the aliens' ship: **_Pai was looking for Kisshu, and finally found him in his room, playing with the kitten. Pai knocked on the door, and both Kisshu and Ichigo looked up, startled. "It's time for the next attack," Pai said.

"Aww… I wanted to play with Ichi," Kisshu said. "It's really relaxing, you should try it."

Pai was turning red, and shouted, "Enough with the cat! Let's go already!"

"Can I bring Ichi?" Kisshu asked.

"Fine… it's better than letting her explore the ship like yesterday," Pai said. "Let's go already."

Kisshu stood up, Ichigo in his arms, and teleported to a park with Pai. Taruto teleported there at the same time, and Pai said, "Taruto, your turn."

Taruto smirked and threw four parasites into the ground. The ground began to shake, and then four vines with sharp thorns grew, and turned into vine monsters.

The Mews ran up soon after, and the aliens looked confused. "Oi, where's the old hag?" Taruto asked.

"Her parents dragged her off on some trip," Zakuro said.

Kisshu looked disappointed. "Pai, if Koneko-chan's not here, why do I have to be here?" he asked plaintively.

Pai growled. "FINE! Go back to the ship, and stop bugging me!" he shouted. "First you bring home a stray cat, and now you won't fight unless Mew Ichigo is around. What is the matter with you lately?"

Kisshu shrugged. "I'm sick of the fighting," he said bluntly, causing all the Mews to look at him like he had two heads, and Pai to start sputtering.

Before Pai could strangle Kisshu, Taruto said, "Kisshu's right, Pai. We're not getting anywhere, and you're acting like a mindless drone." He waved a hand, and the vine monsters turned back into normal vines.

The Mews were in shock. They were nothing, however, compared to Pai. "You would betray Deep Blue?" he asked in a dangerous tone of voice.

Kisshu refused to be intimidated, and said, "Pai, you know he's not going to help us, he'll betray us once we capture the Earth. Well, I'm not going to give him that chance. Taruto, are you with me?"

"Yep," Taruto said. "Face it Pai, this isn't going anywhere. If you want to take over the world on your own, fine. But we're not going to help you anymore. And I don't know why you're so dead set against cooperation; Kisshu and I both know you're in love with Mew Lettuce."

There was a collective gasp from the Mews, and Lettuce turned bright red. Taruto teleported to the ground, landing next to Pudding, who glomped him. Kisshu flew down and landed next to Taruto, and they and the Mews looked up at Pai, who was seemingly in shock. Then he teleported away, and Kisshu sighed. "He'll warm up to it eventually," he said. "Um… Pudding, I don't think Taruto can breathe."

"Oops," Pudding said, and got off of Taruto. "Sorry Taru-Taru!"

"Please don't do that again," Taruto gasped. "I don't mind hugs, but that was a bit too much."

Pudding grinned sheepishly. Zakuro sighed. "I suppose you both should come back to the Café with us, Ryou and Keiichiro need to know," she said.

"Okay," Kisshu said. He and Taruto followed the Mews back to the Café, and went in with them.

Ryou and Keiichiro were in the front room, and both of them jumped to their feet when they saw Kisshu and Taruto. "I assume there's a reason why you brought the aliens back here?" Ryou asked.

"These two apparently want to stop fighting," Zakuro said. Ryou and Keiichiro's jaws dropped.

Keiichiro was the first to collect himself, and he said, "Why is that?"

"We decided that it's not really going anywhere, and seeing as we're both in love with Mews, it doesn't seem right to kill all their friends and only leave them alive," Kisshu said. "Besides, our leader only wants the Earth for himself. It'll be bad if he gets it."

"And Pai?" Ryou asked.

"He'll eventually see reason," Taruto said. "He's head over heels for Lettuce. He'll cave in eventually."

Ryou sighed. "And where's Ichigo?" he asked.

"I thought she was on a trip with her parents," Kisshu said. "That's what Zakuro told us."

"Actually, she went missing two days ago," Zakuro said. "We just didn't want to tell you that, since we had a hunch that you had her."

"We haven't seen her," Taruto said.

"Hate to break it to you, but yes, you have," Keiichiro said. He looked at Ryou who sighed and nodded. Keiichiro turned back to Taruto and Kisshu and said, "Kisshu's currently holding her."

Kisshu's jaw dropped, and he looked down at the kitten in his arms. "Ichigo?" he whispered. Ichigo nodded, then stood up in his arms, and kissed him. POOF! When the smoke cleared, Ichigo was sitting on a shocked Kisshu's legs. She blushed and quickly got off of him. Noticing he was still on the floor, Ichigo pulled him up, and said, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't want Pai to know."

Kisshu sounded dazed as he said, "You heard everything, then?"

"Yes," Ichigo said. "I'm glad I did, because I didn't realize you really loved me. I just wish I had realized you were right about Aoyama sooner."

"I…" Kisshu started- then turned and began to run. Ichigo ran after him. "Kisshu, come back!" she called out. Kisshu stopped, but didn't look at her. She ran up to him and took his hand, feeling him stiffen at the contact.

"I love you, Kisshu," Ichigo said. "I don't know if you still love me, but I love you."

**Okay, I'm totally exhausted, it's almost 3 AM, and I'm going to upload this and go to bed. Thanks for reading and please review!**


	3. Lovebirds

**Kitten Love Chapter 3:**

**Lovebirds**

Kisshu turned to look at Ichigo. "You love me?" he asked. "For real?"

Ichigo smiled. "For real," she said. "I just wish I had realized you were right about the treehugger sooner; he dumped me the other day."

"That jerk's going to pay," Kisshu snarled.

Ichigo smiled. "Good idea, but we should go back to the others, we probably need to work something out," she said.

"Can I have a kiss first?" Kisshu asked hopefully.

Ichigo smiled again and kissed him. He immediately kissed her back, as she wound her arms around his neck. When they broke apart, they smiled at each other. Then they walked back to the Café hand in hand.

The others were waiting, and as soon as they got back, Ryou asked, "What was that about?"

"I think Kisshu was a little embarrassed about some of the things he said to me while I was a cat," Ichigo said.

"And why were you kissing?" Ryou asked.

"Because we love each other, and Kisshu wanted a kiss," Ichigo replied. "Why?"

"Never mind," Ryou grumbled.

Keiichiro sighed and said, "So what are we doing about getting Pai on our side?"

"Nothing, he'll get lonely and eventually cave in," Kisshu said. "And if he attacks, we'll fight too. His Chimeras aren't usually that great."

"And your leader?" Ryou asked.

"He can't awaken without help," Taruto said. "That, and his human host."

"I don't suppose you know who that is?" Keiichiro asked.

"I found out last week by going through Pai's notes," Kisshu said. "It's the treehugger."

"Well, that's not good," Zakuro said. "He's gone missing."

Kisshu and Taruto's eyes widened. "That could mean that Deep Blue already has him," Kisshu said. "We don't have enough Mew Aqua to complete the awakening, though, so we've got some time."

"Our group has most of the Mew Aqua," Keiichiro said.

"Good," Kisshu said. "I assume you're keeping it somewhere safe?"

"Yeah, it's-" Ryou started, but Kisshu held up a hand.

"Pai's not too far away, don't tell us where it is," Kisshu said. He closed his eyes, then said, "Pai's currently sitting on the roof, listening. I guess we'd better end the conversation until he's not around, or he's decided to join our side."

"How can he hear us through the roof?" Mint asked.

Kisshu snickered. "Did you think our ears were like this just for show, Birdy?" he asked. "We've got much better hearing than you guys. Our hearing is sort of like Koneko-chan's cat hearing."

"Shouldn't we do something about Pai?" Keiichiro asked.

"Lettuce could go talk to him," Taruto said. "Lettuce, go outside, I'll push him off the roof for you."

Lettuce turned red and said, "Uh…. okay." She went outside, while Taruto teleported outside, then flew up to the roof, where he found Pai sitting on the top of the roof, lost in thought. Taruto snuck up behind him, then shoved him, hard.

"Whaaa?" Pai yelled. He hadn't even noticed Taruto, and now he was too startled to fly, so he ended up crashing down to the ground- right at Lettuce's feet. Now completely humiliated, Pai didn't even notice that he had a bunch of scratches on his face. Lettuce noticed, though, and said, "Um, do you want some help taking care of those cuts on your face?"

"What cuts?" Pai asked dazedly, looking at Lettuce.

"Are you okay?" Lettuce asked, putting a hand on his forehead.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Pai said, still looking at Lettuce. "I suppose you're here to convince me to join the rest of you?"

"Well, yes," Lettuce said. "We all know this isn't going anywhere, and Kisshu-san said that your leader doesn't actually want to help your race. We could benefit from working together to save your home planet, instead of having you all live on Earth, which is pretty polluted."

"And getting rid of my leader?" Pai asked.

"We'll have to do that at some point," Lettuce said. "According to Ichigo-san's friends, Aoyama disappeared, and Kisshu-san said that's who his human host is."

"Sounds like we don't have much time, then," Pai said. "Fine…. I'll join you guys."

"Good," Lettuce said. She took Pai's hand and pulled him into the Café.

The others looked up, and Keiichiro said, "Pai, what have you decided?"

"I'll join you," Pai said. "But Taruto's going to get strangled for pushing me off the roof, so he won't be able to help."

"NO! Don't strangle my Taru-Taru!" Pudding said, placing herself in front of Taruto protectively.

Pai sighed. "Fine, I'll let him live- for now," he said. He turned to the others. "If Aoyama has disappeared, we don't have much time," he informed them. "It's likely that Deep Blue has him, and will probably take him over. We have to find him before Deep Blue completely takes over, which will take a week at most. If we kill him, we'll be fine."

"Any ideas on where he might be?" Zakuro asked.

"His dimension seems the most likely place," Pai said. "I might as well go try to find a way in."

"You can't just teleport?" Ryou asked.

"No," Pai said. "Some dimensions only have one way in, and it's impossible to teleport until that way is found. I'll go get on that." He teleported out.

The others looked at each other. "He'll come back when he's found something," Kisshu said. "Until then, I guess we wait."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "Kisshu, would you like to come home with me?"

"Isn't your dad going to kill me?" Kisshu asked nervously.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Ichigo said. "Besides, you took good care of me while I was a cat, he's got nothing to complain about."

"And how are you going to explain the fact that Kisshu's not human?" Ryou asked.

"I'll just tell my parents the truth, it's about time I told them anyways," Ichigo said.

Ryou looked shocked. "What? I hate hiding things from them," Ichigo said. "Come on, Kisshu."

Kisshu smiled and took her hand, then teleported to her house. Ichigo went up to the door, and knocked. It was flung open to reveal Sakura about a minute later. "ICHIGO!?" she shrieked.

"Yes," Ichigo said.

"Where have you been? We were worried sick, and who's your friend?" Sakura asked.

"This is Kisshu, and can we discuss the other questions inside?" Ichigo asked.

"Fine, come in," Sakura said. Ichigo and Kisshu followed her inside, and to the living room. "I'll get your dad," Sakura said, and left. She came back a minute later with Shintaro, who was looking rather unhappy. "Ichigo, where have you been, and who's HE?" Shintaro asked.

"This is Kisshu, and I've been staying with him," Ichigo said. "And I probably should have told you this sooner, but I'm Mew Ichigo."

Sakura and Shintaro's jaws dropped. "And I suppose there's a reason you're with Kisshu? Isn't he an alien?" Shintaro asked.

"Aoyama dumped me, and my emotions went so out of control that I turned into a cat," Ichigo said. "Kisshu found me and took care of me."

"Aren't you two supposed to be enemies?" Sakura asked.

"We just formed a truce," Kisshu said. "We're sick of fighting."

"And the treehugger?" Shintaro asked. "Can I kill him now that he's dumped you?"

"Bad idea, it turns out that he's actually the host for Kisshu's former leader, so you probably would get killed if you tried to kill him," Ichigo said. "I don't want you to die, so we'll handle this."

"Grr…." Shintaro said. "I know how to use a sword, you know."

"Nice try," Ichigo said. "I already knew that, and unfortunately, I don't think you're going to be able to do much without powers like us."

"Oh, fine," Shintaro said sulkily. "So why is Kisshu here?"

"We're dating," Ichigo said.

"YOU'RE DOING WHAT!?" Shintaro shouted, causing Kisshu to cover his ears.

"We're dating, and you're just going to have to deal with it," Ichigo said. "And before you ask, NO, you may NOT challenge Kisshu to a kendo match."

"I CAN DO-" Shintaro was cut off by Sakura covering his mouth. "Shintaro, that's enough shouting," she said firmly. "You're hurting Kisshu's ears."

Shintaro looked at Kisshu, who was holding his ears, and sighed. Sakura took her hand away, and Shintaro said, "Fine… I'll stop shouting. But we need to get some things straight, you two."

Kisshu hesitantly took his hand off his ears and said, "Um… I don't mean to sound rude, but can we get some things straight when I don't have a headache?"

Ichigo noticed Kisshu was looking kind of unsteady, and said, "Kisshu, I think you should lie down, you're not looking too good. We can talk after you feel better."

Kisshu put a hand on his forehead. "I guess you're right… my head feels like it's about to explode," he said.

"Come back to my room, you can sleep there," Ichigo said, glaring at her father. She took Kisshu's hand and pulled him upstairs. They got to her room, and Kisshu sat down on the bed. "Just relax," Ichigo told Kisshu softly. "Lie back, it'll help."

Kisshu laid back on Ichigo's bed. "I'm getting a cool cloth, I think that'll help too," Ichigo said. She went to the bathroom and soaked a washcloth in ice water, then wrung it out and brought it back to Kisshu, putting it on his forehead.

"That feels nice…" Kisshu said sleepily.

"Go to sleep, I'll be right here," Ichigo said. Kisshu was asleep pretty quickly, and Ichigo sat down next to the bed.

About an hour later, Sakura came in. Kisshu was still sleeping, and she asked softly, "How is he?"

"He's still sleeping, I'm hoping he'll feel better once he wakes up," Ichigo said softly. "He said the cool cloth felt nice, so I hope it helps."

Sakura came over and gently put a hand on Kisshu's cheek, then sat down next to Ichigo. "No fever," she said. "I had a talk with your dad, and he'll stop bugging you. But if he does, come to me, k?"

"Okay, thanks Mom," Ichigo said.

They sat in silence for a while, but then they noticed that Kisshu was stirring. "Kisshu?" Ichigo asked softly.

Kisshu opened his eyes, and said, "Koneko-chan?"

"I'm here, how's your head?" Ichigo said, sitting down on the bed with him.

"I think it's a little better," Kisshu said. "I wish Pai wasn't busy, he has the ability to heal. I also wish my ears were a little less sensitive, that HURT."

"We have headache medicine, do you want to try some?" Sakura asked.

"That'd be nice," Kisshu said.

"I'll go get it," Sakura said. She left, and came back five minutes later with a bottle and a glass of water. "Kisshu, can you sit up?" she asked.

"Yeah," Kisshu said, and sat up. Sakura handed him the water, then looked at the instructions on the bottle, and poured out two pills.

"You need to swallow these whole," she told Kisshu, handing them over. Kisshu obeyed, and drank the rest of the water. "It shouldn't take too long for the medicine to take effect, but you might want to get some more rest in the meantime," Sakura took Kisshu.

"Thanks," Kisshu said. He put the glass on Ichigo's bedside table, and laid back down. Like before, he was asleep pretty quickly. Ichigo settled down next to the bed again, and Sakura did the same.

A while later, teleportation sounded in the room, causing Ichigo and Sakura to jump up. Pai appeared, and Ichigo held a finger to her lips, pointing to Kisshu. Pai sighed. "What happened?" he asked softly.

"Dad was yelling at us, and it really hurt Kisshu's ears," Ichigo said. "He's got a pretty bad headache, but we gave him some headache medicine. I think he'll be feeling better when he wakes up."

"Um… what was the medicine made of?" Pai asked.

"Ibuprofen," Sakura said. "Does Kisshu have an allergy?"

"Sort of, he's not too good with most medications," Pai said. "He's also extremely allergic to bananas, but that's a different story. He must have been pretty out of it if he agreed to take something without knowing anything about it."

"Is there anything you can do?" Ichigo asked.

"I'll check him out," Pai said. "The reason I was sent to Earth- besides being a scientist- is that I'm a healer, and since a lot of medications tend to make Kisshu worse, it was decided that I should go, since if Kisshu got sick, he'd have less of a chance of recovery if there wasn't a healer around. The only things he can take safely are our fever and stomach medicines."

"I'm sorry," Sakura said. "I guess I should have asked if he had any allergies before giving him medicine."

"It's not your fault," Pai said. "I'll go see if Kisshu's actually having any problems." He went to the bed and put a hand on Kisshu's chest. "Good, the medicine you gave him hasn't started to take effect yet," Pai said. His hand began to glow, and the glow suddenly flashed. "That should take care of the medicine, I'll take care of his headache now," Pai said. He put a hand on Kisshu's forehead, and his hand started to glow again. Then the glow flashed, and Pai took his hand away, then tapped Kisshu's forehead.

Kisshu started to wake up, and looked startled to see Pai standing over him. "Pai? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Healing you," Pai said. "You should know better than to take human medicine. You're lucky it didn't really take effect yet."

"Sorry," Kisshu said. "Thanks for taking care of the headache, I feel a lot better."

"Good, because I found a way into Deep Blue's dimension, and we need to get going," Pai said.

**Next chapter will probably include some action. Review while I work on my other stories!**


	4. Deep Blue

**Kitten Love Chapter 4:**

**Deep Blue**

"Are we going to the Café now?" Ichigo asked.

"Hai, we need to start planning, and then go," Pai said. "Kisshu, can you teleport?"

"I think so," Kisshu said. He teleported behind Ichigo, tickled her neck, then said, "Yep."

"Be careful," Sakura told them.

"We will," Ichigo said. Then Kisshu took her hand, and he and Pai teleported to Café Mew Mew. The others were gathered there, and as soon as they teleported in, Ryou said, "What's your plan?"

"Go in, and kill the treehugger," Kisshu said. "Or if he's already been taken over, we kill Deep Blue."

"If he'd already been taken over, wouldn't we be fighting here on Earth?" Zakuro asked.

"Unless he's luring us into a trap," Pai said. "But we still need to go in. We'll just have to stick together once we get in. Otherwise we've got more of a chance of a hostage situation."

"And I take it we're doing this right now?" Mint asked.

"Yes, so all of you should transform," Pai said.

Ichigo nodded and along with the other Mews, transformed. "Good luck," Keiichiro said, as the Cyniclons teleported the Mews to Deep Blue's dimension.

They arrived in a hallway, much to Kisshu and Taruto's confusion. "What happened to the blue mist?" Kisshu asked.

"It's close to his awakening, the mist has been transformed," Pai said. "There should be a door around here somewhere."

"It's at the end of the hall," Lettuce said, pointing.

"Let's go then," Pai said, and led the way to the door. He pressed his ear against the door, and whispered, "I don't hear anything, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Let's go." He pulled the door open, and looked in. It was a bit dark in the room, so they all went in cautiously. Ichigo and Zakuro could see fine, and the Cyniclons didn't have much trouble either. They looked around, but didn't see anyone.

"This is odd," Kisshu said quietly. "I would have thought the treehugger, at least, would be here."

Suddenly they heard a low chuckle from behind them, and spun. Aoyuck was standing behind them. "Well, Ichigo, you chose that freak over me?" he asked, ignoring the others.

"Kisshu's NOT a freak, and you're the one who said, "Get out of my life,"" Ichigo said. "Besides, Kisshu's not an evil jerk like you. Why would I choose someone who dumped me for no reason? Kisshu's way better, and I should have realized that sooner."

Aoyuck shrugged. "Well, once he's dead, you'll be mine again," he said. "At least you'll still be alive, which is more than I can say for your friends."

"None of us are going to die, but I'd rather die with my friends than go out with the guy who killed them," Ichigo said. "You're the only one who'll be dying today."

Aoyuck smirked and summoned what looked like the Blue Knight's sword out of thin air. Taking this as a cue, the Mews and Cyniclons got out their weapons too. Aoyuck lunged at them, and they scattered. Mint shot one of her arrows at Aoyuck, but he just slashed it in half. Zakuro lashed out with her whip, wrapping it around Aoyuck's sword. Ichigo took the opportunity to use her Strawberry Surprise on him. Kisshu saw what she was doing, and combined an energy ball with her attack.

Unfortunately, Aoyuck broke free as the attacks came toward him, and waved a hand. The attacks were sent back at Kisshu and Ichigo. They both dodged, and Aoyuck snarled. Then he formed an energy ball of his own, which was more powerful than Kisshu's. The two dodged again, and Pai took that opportunity to use his lightning attack on Aoyuck. It was a direct hit, but it didn't seem to do much. Suddenly Aoyuck began to glow, and transformed. Now he was a Cyniclon, with ankle-length black hair and ice blue eyes. He was wearing a similar outfit to the Blue Knight's, except the shorts were replaced by a robe, and the color was darker.

Kisshu sighed. "Couldn't defeat us without transforming into something more powerful?" he asked Deep Blue.

Deep Blue snarled and lunged at Kisshu, who dodged, and then lunged forward with his swords. Deep Blue blocked as the others backed up.

Kisshu seemed to be doing pretty well. He had blocked every lunge and thrust of Deep Blue's sword, and it was clear that Deep Blue was getting frustrated. "Fight back already!" he shouted.

"I'll fight back when I'm ready," Kisshu smirked, dodging another sword thrust. Deep Blue snarled and lunged again, faster this time. Kisshu brought his swords up, crossing them in preparation for yet another attempt from Deep Blue to bring his sword down on Kisshu's head.

It never came. Instead, Deep Blue changed the direction of his sword halfway through lunging, and before Kisshu could block, stabbed him in the stomach!

"_**KISSHU!" **_Ichigo screamed, as Kisshu went limp, and Deep Blue threw him off the end of his sword.

Kisshu slid to a stop on the far side of the room, and Ichigo was in shock. Suddenly, it snapped, and her eyes started to glow bright pink. While Deep Blue was laughing, Ichigo shouted, "RIBON- STRAWBERRY SURPRISE!" She put all her power behind it, and it hit Deep Blue dead on. He literally dissolved into a pile of ash, and Ichigo let her weapon disappear, then ran to Kisshu.

She dropped to her knees next to him, immediately seeing that it was too late. _Only one thing left, _she thought, and put her hand over Kisshu's heart. As she began to glow, Pai realized what she was trying to do. "Ichigo, STOP!" he shouted, causing the others to look at him. Ichigo didn't seem to hear, as the glow around her flashed, and she collapsed. When the glow faded, the others noticed Kisshu's stomach wound was gone, and he was stirring. Ichigo, on the other hand, was not stirring. She lay motionless next to Kisshu, and the others were silent, knowing what she had done. Pudding started crying, and Taruto hugged her.

At the sound of Pudding's crying, Kisshu opened his eyes. He turned his head- and his eyes widened. "Ichigo?" he whispered, sitting up. Pai noticed he was sitting up, and came over as the other Mews and Taruto started trying to calm Pudding down, though the rest of the Mews were pretty teary-eyed too.

Pai knelt next to Kisshu, who was shaking Ichigo. "Kisshu- Ichigo sacrificed herself to save you," Pai said. "She's gone. I couldn't stop her, I'm sorry."

Kisshu stopped shaking Ichigo and said, "She can't be gone…" Then he buried his face in his hands and started sobbing. Pai put his hand on Kisshu's shoulder, but Kisshu shrugged it off.

Pai sighed, but then felt something, and whipped around, looking over at Deep Blue's ashes. Then he jumped up and ran over, putting a hand over the ashes. Suddenly he put his hand in the pile, and pulled out a Mew Aqua! He ran back to Kisshu, and said, "Kisshu, I found some Mew Aqua, here."

Kisshu looked up, his eyes hopeful. Pai handed him the ball of Mew Aqua, and he took it, then pushed it into Ichigo's chest, directly over her heart. She began to glow a rainbow of colors, and Kisshu waited as they faded.

Ichigo started to stir after the colors faded, and Kisshu asked softly, "Koneko-chan?"

Ichigo opened her eyes, looking up at him. "Kisshu?" she asked. "You're okay?"

Kisshu pulled her into his arms as he said, "No, I'm not. You killed yourself! Why would you do that?"

"I can't live without you," Ichigo said. "I didn't want you to die."

"So you died instead!? Did you even consider how it might feel for me to wake up and find that I'm alive because you gave up your life?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo pulled away from Kisshu, and he looked at her. She didn't look back, and suddenly, POOF! She turned into a cat again. Pai sighed, having watched all this. "Kisshu, I think you hurt her feelings," he said.

Kisshu looked sad. Not much compared to Ichigo, who started wailing. "Myuuuuuuuuuuuu!" Ichigo wailed.

Then Kisshu started crying. "I'm sorry!" he cried.

"Um… I think we should get out of here," Pai said. "Kisshu, pull yourself together, we have to teleport the Mews back."

"Okay…" Kisshu said sadly. He picked up Ichigo, who still looked sad, and looked at Pai and Taruto, who were already holding onto the other Mews. Then they all teleported out.

**Kind of short- but there is more! Review and plz don't flame me!**


	5. Koneko-chan

**Kitten Love Chapter 5:**

**Koneko-chan**

They landed in the Café, and found Ryou and Keiichiro sitting there, with Ichigo's parents. They all jumped up and ran over as the group teleported in.

"How'd it go? And where's Ichigo?" Ryou asked.

"Ichigo killed Deep Blue after he killed Kisshu, but then she sacrificed herself to save Kisshu," Pai said. Ryou, Keiichiro, Sakura and Shintaro looked horrified, but Pai said, "I found some Mew Aqua, and Kisshu used it to bring her back to life, but he got kind of upset with her for sacrificing herself like that, and she turned into a kitten again. But at least she's still alive."

Shintaro and Sakura looked relieved. "Where is she?" Sakura asked.

"Kisshu's holding her," Pai replied. "Kisshu, why don't you put her down now?"

Kisshu sighed and gently placed Neko Ichigo on the floor- or tried to. She was clinging to his shirt with her claws, and myu'd sadly when he tried to put her down. "I don't think she wants down," Kisshu said. "She's got her claws in my shirt."

Sakura came over, and said, "Ichigo, can you let go of Kisshu now?"

"Myuuuuuuu!" Ichigo wailed.

Sakura sighed. "I'll take that as a 'no'," she said. "Ichigo, why won't you let go?"

"Myuu, nyan nyaaa…." Ichigo said.

"Did anyone understand that?" Sakura asked.

Ryou sighed. "She won't let go because she's afraid Kisshu will leave," he said.

"Myu, nya nya nya," Ichigo said.

"She doesn't want Kisshu to leave, even though he's mad at her, and she thinks if he leaves, he won't come back," Ryou said.

Kisshu looked down at Ichigo, and said, "I won't leave if you don't want me to, Koneko-chan. And I'm not mad at you, I was just really worried. I'm sorry."

"Nyaa?" Ichigo asked.

"Really," Kisshu said with a smile.

Ichigo purred and settled down in his arms. "Um…. you don't want to change back?" Kisshu asked.

"Myuuuu…." Ichigo said.

"I'll take that as a no," Kisshu said. Ichigo purred again and rubbed her head against his chest.

"I wonder why she won't change back," Sakura said.

"She probably just wants Kisshu to hold her," Ryou said disgruntledly.

"Jealous, are we, Blondie?" Kisshu asked, snickering.

Sakura and Shintaro looked confused. "Ichigo's always telling us that Ryou hates her, why would he be jealous?" Sakura asked.

Keiichiro sighed. "Ryou's actually in love with Ichigo, he just doesn't know how to show it," he said. "Of course, if Ryou hadn't treated Ichigo like dirt all the time, she might have returned those feelings someday, but as it is, I'm not really surprised she fell for Kisshu."

"Did you have to tell them?" Ryou asked.

"Yes, because they asked," Keiichiro said.

Ryou sighed and looked at Ichigo, who was contentedly purring while Kisshu petted her. She seemed to sense that Ryou was looking at her, because she opened one eye, and stuck her tongue out at Ryou, causing him to turn red. Keiichiro grabbed him by the collar as he started forward, and said, "Honestly, I think Ichigo deserves some fun. You overwork her all the time, and keep docking her paycheck because you like the look on her face. Considering the fact that she has claws right now, I'd suggest toning it down."

Ryou snarled, and POOF! turned into Alto.

"I didn't know Blondie could do that," Kisshu commented. "Too bad he's not bigger; he'll have quite the time getting Koneko-chan away from me at that size."

Alto hissed, and leaped at Kisshu, who simply flew over the attack. Before Alto could lunge again, Keiichiro picked him up, and said, "Turn back now, or I'm getting the little collar I got a while back- the one that will keep you in cat form for good. I figured it would come in handy if you ever went overboard with Ichigo. I know you sneak into her room as Alto sometimes. Whether or not you've seen her changing is beyond me, though."

Shintaro went from 'slightly angry' to 'Ryou is now doomed' mode in about 1.5 seconds. "Keiichiro, do you have a problem with me strangling that little gray monstrosity?" he asked.

"Yes, because you'll go to jail," Keiichiro sighed. "And where will that leave Ichigo and Mrs. Momomiya?"

Shintaro sighed. "Can he change back so I can beat him to a pulp?" he asked.

Sakura stepped in and said, "Alright honey, time to go home. Kisshu, come with us, you can stay for dinner."

"Okay, thanks," Kisshu said. He followed Sakura and Shintaro back to their car, and looked at it nervously. "I think I'll just teleport," he said.

"Do you know where it is?" Sakura asked.

"Yep, see you there," Kisshu said. Sakura nodded, so Kisshu teleported to Ichigo's room, and set her down on the bed. Then he sat next to her. She came and curled up on his lap, purring. "Are you planning on turning back?" he asked her. She looked at him sadly. He decided to read her mind, and heard: _Kisshu doesn't like me as a cat? I thought he'd like me better this way…._

"I like you either way, but it's harder to kiss a cat than a human…." Kisshu said. Ichigo sighed and kissed him. POOF! Ichigo was now in human form, sitting on Kisshu's lap. She blushed and got off, sitting next to him instead. "Koneko-chan, are you feeling okay? You're not usually sad," Kisshu said.

"I am when you get mad at me…" Ichigo said.

"I'm sorry, I was just really worried about you," Kisshu said. "I'd miss you too much if you died. If Pai hadn't found Mew Aqua, I probably would have been joining you. I can't live without you, Ichigo."

"I can't live without you either," Ichigo said. "Which is why I gave my life to save yours."

"Just please don't do something like that again," Kisshu said.

"I don't think I'll need to," Ichigo said with a smile. "Deep Blue's dead now."

**I KNOW it's ridiculously short, but I need to work on Sick Day before I go to bed, so sorry, and plz review!**


	6. Dinner

**Kitten Love Chapter 6:**

**Dinner**

Sakura called Kisshu and Ichigo down for dinner, and they all sat down together. "So Kisshu, what do you like to do for fun?" Sakura asked.

"Spend time with Ichigo," Kisshu said. "And I like to draw."

"Are you good at it?" Sakura asked.

"Taruto seems to think so, because he's continually blackmailing me to draw pictures of Pudding," Kisshu said. "Now that Ichigo and I aren't enemies, though, he'll run out of blackmail material."

"What did he blackmail you with?" Shintaro asked.

"Sending Chimera Animas after Ichigo," Kisshu sighed. "The poisonous kind. So I ended up drawing like fifty pictures of Pudding in order to keep the little runt from trying to kill Ichigo."

Before anyone could respond, a voice said indignantly, "I am NOT a little runt, asparagus head!"

Ichigo and her parents jumped; Kisshu sighed and said, "Taruto, get out of the overhead light. What are you even doing here? I thought you were with Pudding on the ship."

There was a loud sigh, and Taruto teleported into the room. "Very good, you didn't break the light this time," Kisshu said. "Now explain yourself."

"Pudding and I kind of destroyed something in Pai's lab…." Taruto said. "So I had to take Pudding home, and then I came to find you. Are you going to protect me from Pai's wrath?"

"No," Kisshu said. "Actually, I think I'll tie you up and hand-deliver you to Pai, since you were rude enough to interrupt dinner here." He lazily snapped his fingers, and suddenly Taruto was tied up with a pretty bow. Ichigo burst out laughing, and Taruto glared at her. Kisshu turned to Sakura and Shintaro, and said politely, "Will you excuse me a moment?"

"Um… sure…" Shintaro said. Kisshu got up, grabbed Taruto, and teleported out. Shintaro looked at Ichigo, who was still giggling, and said, "You've certainly got an interesting one this time…"

"I think Kisshu's wonderful," Ichigo said.

"He seems very sweet," Sakura said.

Kisshu reappeared a minute later, looking freaked out. "Kisshu! What happened?" Ichigo asked.

"Pai started laughing when he saw what I did to Taruto!" Kisshu said.

"Uh… Is that bad?" Shintaro asked.

"YES! Every time Pai laughs, something unspeakably horrible happens to whoever hears him!" Kisshu said. "His laugh is cursed!"

"What happened last time?" Ichigo asked.

"My friend got ripped up by a rogue Chimera Anima!" Kisshu moaned. "He was the one who made Pai laugh, and when he was on his way home from school after that, he literally got ripped up! And this time _I _made Pai laugh! I'm DOOMED!"

"Okay, take a deep breath," Ichigo said. "You're not doomed, it's more likely that Taruto's doomed."

"But I heard Pai laugh!" Kisshu moaned. "And what if the doom happens to you?"

"Kisshu, _nothing is going to happen,_" Ichigo said firmly. "Now calm down and eat your noodles. And there's chocolate cake for dessert, which you won't get if you continue panicking."

"Chocolate cake?" Kisshu asked hopefully.

"Noodles first," Sakura told him.

"Okay," Kisshu said, and resumed eating. Ichigo took some more noodles for herself, and started eating. She noticed her parents kept glancing at each other, and knew they were thinking, 'What kind of guy did Ichigo bring home this time?', but ignored it.

Soon they were done, and Sakura brought out her chocolate cake. Kisshu's eyes lit up. "That looks GOOD," he said.

Sakura smiled. "I hope it tastes good too," she said.

"Anything chocolate tastes good," Kisshu said. "Except raisins."

"You don't like raisins?" Sakura asked, cutting some cake for them all.

"No, and I'm really allergic to bananas," Kisshu said. "I like other fruit, though. I really like apples."

"Well, at least you like some fruits," Sakura said. "Fruit's good for you."

"That's what Pai says," Kisshu said. He took a bite of the cake, and said, "This tastes GREAT!"

"I'm glad," Sakura said with a smile, watching as Kisshu ate the rest of his cake. "Who does the cooking in your home?"

"We actually have a tendency to go get stuff, because none of us can cook, and Pai's a disaster in the kitchen," Kisshu said. "So we eat a lot of ramen and fruit and cereal."

"Maybe you should come over for dinner more often," Sakura said, causing Shintaro's jaw to drop.

"Is that okay?" Kisshu asked.

"Sure," Ichigo and Sakura said.

"Thanks, that's really nice of you," Kisshu said.

"And I'll keep Shintaro under control," Sakura said. "He's going to have to get used to the fact that Ichigo's growing up sooner or later."

"I'm still here," Shintaro said sulkily.

"Oh yes, you are," Sakura said. "That's nice."

"WHAT!?" Shintaro shouted.

"Honey, no shouting, it hurts Kisshu's ears," Sakura said.

Shintaro sighed and went to the living room to read the paper- or sulk, one or the other. "I'll do the dishes, so you two go have fun," Sakura said.

"Thanks, Mrs. Momomiya," Kisshu said.

"You can call me Sakura," Sakura said.

"Okay, thanks Sakura," Kisshu said.

"Come on, let's go back to my room," Ichigo said, pulling Kisshu up the stairs. They went to her room, and sat down on the bed. "What should we do now?" Ichigo asked.

Kisshu smirked, and pulled her into his arms, then kissed her. She kissed him back, and they stayed like that for quite a while- until Shintaro walked past the open door, saw them, and shouted, "NO KISSING!"

Kisshu's hands flew up to cover his ears- and Ichigo turned into a kitten. Shintaro looked at the tiny black kitten hissing at him, and said, "This is my fault, isn't it?"

"Do you want an honest answer, or one of those little white lies that humans tell so they don't hurt others' feelings?" Kisshu asked, hesitantly taking his hands off his ears.

"I'll take that as a 'yes, it's your fault, because you startled her," Shintaro sighed.

Sakura came up a minute later and said, "What happened to my 'no shouting in the house' rule? And why is Ichigo in cat form?"

"I startled her while they were kissing, and yes, I'm going away now," Shintaro said. "I don't want to get clawed." He walked away, and Ichigo settled down. Sakura came in as Kisshu scratched Ichigo's ears, causing her to purr loudly.

Sakura sat down with them, and sighed. "I wish Shintaro was a bit more flexible," she said. "Ichigo's life would be easier if he'd realize that she's growing up, and that you're probably going to be around for good, Kisshu."

"I like being near Ichigo," Kisshu said. He looked at the kitten purring in his lap. She looked back innocently, and then reached up with one paw, her eyes going wide. "Um… Koneko-chan, why are you doing that?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo stood up on Kisshu's lap, and batted at one of his pigtails. "Oh, you saw my hair moving?" Kisshu asked. Ichigo purred. Kisshu chuckled, and Sakura smiled. "Ichigo, are you going to change back?" she asked.

"Myuu…" Ichigo said, her ears drooping.

"You don't seem to like going back to normal," Kisshu commented.

Ichigo sighed and kissed Kisshu, then POOFed back to normal and said, "I like being petted. That's why. It's such a nice feeling."

Kisshu stroked her hair. "Does that feel nice too?" he asked.

Ichigo sighed happily. "Yeah…" she said, yawning.

"Tired?" Sakura asked.

"Yep," Ichigo said. "Can Kisshu stay tonight?"

"Yes, but he's in the guest room, your dad's going to have a fit if he sleeps in here," Sakura said. "Kisshu, do you want to stay?"

"Yes, I'm scared of what will happen if I go back to the ship," Kisshu said. "Pai might curse me again."

"Okay, I don't think that's going to happen, but I'll set up the guest room, and you can either come, or watch Ichigo fall asleep," Sakura said.

"I'll stay," Kisshu said.

Ichigo sleepily climbed into her bed, and Kisshu started stroking her hair. She was asleep in less than a minute, and Kisshu was getting sleepy too. Soon after he went to the guest room, he too was asleep.

**Okay, now that we know Pai's laugh is cursed, what do you think should happen? Should it just be Kisshu being paranoid, or should something actually happen? Review with suggestions!**


	7. Ryou Goes Too Far

**Kitten Love Chapter 7:**

**Ryou Goes Too Far**

The next morning, Ichigo woke up to someone knocking on her window. She pulled the blankets over her head, trying to ignore them. Five minutes later, she couldn't take it anymore, and looked out the window. To her surprise, Pai was outside, and she sighed. Then she got out of bed and opened the window. "Why couldn't you just ring the doorbell?" she asked wearily.

"Because your dad would kill me," Pai said.

"He's going to kill both of us if he sees you up here," Ichigo said. "OUT!"

Pai sighed and floated down to the ground. Ichigo slammed her window shut, and gathered up some clothes. As she was coming out of her room, she saw Kisshu coming out of the bathroom. "Morning," he said. "What was that slamming noise?"

"Me, slamming the window after telling Pai to get out," Ichigo said. "What he was even doing outside my window is beyond me."

"He's looking for me," Kisshu said. "I think I'll go hide in the guest room."

"You're paranoid," Ichigo said. "I'm taking my shower; try to calm down while I'm gone."

Kisshu just went back to the guest room, and shut the door. Ichigo sighed and went to take a shower. She finished, and put on a pink t-shirt, and a black miniskirt. Then she put on white knee socks, did her hair, and went back to her room to put her pajamas away.

She did that, and went to the guest room. "Kisshu?" she asked. No response. Ichigo sighed. "I'm coming in," she told him. Still no response. She opened the door, and went in. Strangely, she didn't see Kisshu. Then she got an idea, and sighed. She knelt and looked under the bed. Sure enough, Kisshu was down there. "Kisshu, you're insane," Ichigo said. "_Nothing is going to happen!"_

"How do YOU know?" Kisshu asked. "Your best friend didn't die because he made Pai laugh."

"What makes you so sure it wasn't just coincidence?" Ichigo asked.

"There weren't any reports of rogue Chimeras that day, and then Pai laughed at something Kichi said, and this rogue Chimera appeared on his way home from school, and ripped him up!" Kisshu said. "And no one else got injured, it only got Kichi!"

"And I suppose it vanished into thin air after ripping Kichi apart?" Ichigo sighed.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Kisshu said.

"Lucky guess," Ichigo sighed. "Get out from under the bed, Kisshu. You can't stay there forever."

Kisshu sighed. Then he teleported on top of the bed. Just then, the doorbell rang, and Ichigo said, "I'll go see who that is. DO NOT go under the bed again."

"Fine…." Kisshu said. Ichigo went to the front door as her father opened it, and saw that it was Pai. "I'm looking for Kisshu," Pai said.

"He's terrified that since you laughed, something horrific is going to happen to him, and nothing I can do or say will get him to stop being paranoid," Ichigo sighed. "I managed to get him out from under the bed, though."

"Where'd he get that idea?" Pai asked.

"He says you laughed at something his best friend said, and the guy got ripped up by a rogue Chimera Anima," Ichigo said. "And he came back here in a panic last night after delivering Taruto to you. He slept over last night because he says your laugh is cursed."

"That little…" Pai muttered. "My laugh is NOT cursed. I'll go drag him out."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "But next time, ring the doorbell before knocking on my bedroom window. Dad won't necessarily kill you."

"Now I will," Shintaro said. "You were at Ichigo's _bedroom window!?" _

"Yes…" Pai said sheepishly. "But she told me that I should ring the doorbell next time."

"I'm getting the baseball bat," Shintaro said.

"Dad, before you beat Pai up, can he at least come convince Kisshu that he's not cursed?" Ichigo asked.

"Fine, but I get to beat him up later, regardless of what YOU say," Shintaro said.

"That should be good entertainment," Ichigo said, noticing Pai gulp. "I'll tell Mom to make popcorn."

Shintaro smirked, and said, "Good idea."

Ichigo smirked back, and said, "Pai, Kisshu's in the guest room, let's go."

"Um… on second thought…" Pai started.

"No second thoughts," Ichigo said. She then grabbed Pai's arm and dragged him up the stairs- none too gently, either.

They went to the guest room, and Kisshu looked up. "What's HE doing here, Ichigo? I thought you loved me!" Kisshu said.

"Um… Kisshu, I love you, but you're acting like a lunatic, and I'm hoping Pai can help you stop acting like a lunatic," Ichigo said. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Aside from the fact that you brought the instrument of my doom here, yeah, I'm just great," Kisshu said sarcastically.

Pai went over and put a hand on Kisshu's forehead. Then he tapped Kisshu's forehead, and Kisshu almost immediately started to fall asleep. He turned to Ichigo and said, "I think something happened to his mind during the time he was dead."

"Can you fix it?" Ichigo asked.

"Most likely," Pai said. "I'll try." He put his hand back on Kisshu's forehead, and his hand began to glow.

Ten minutes later, Pai's hand was still glowing, but he was looking tired. Ichigo didn't want to distract him, so she didn't say anything. Five minutes later, Pai's hand stopped glowing, and he was gasping for breath. "Pai, are you okay?" Ichigo asked.

"That was harder than usual," Pai said. "I think he'll be fine now, though. Let him sleep it off; I'm going back to the ship to rest." He teleported out.

Ichigo sighed and sat down next to the bed. An hour later, Kisshu started to stir. "Koneko-chan?" he asked.

"I'm right here," Ichigo said. "How are you feeling? You were acting pretty insane earlier. You were saying you were doomed because Pai laughed."

"I feel fine," Kisshu said. "What happened?"

"Pai said something about your mind getting messed up while you were dead," Ichigo said. "He said he took care of the problem, though."

"Where is he?" Kisshu asked.

"He teleported back to the ship, saying he needed to rest after that," Ichigo said.

"Okay," Kisshu said. "What do you want to do now?"

"Go to the park or something?" Ichigo suggested. "We have to let my parents know we're leaving, though."

"Okay," Kisshu said, smiling.

They went downstairs, and found Shintaro sulking as Sakura lectured him. "What is going on down here?" Ichigo asked.

"Your father took the baseball bat out, and knocked over my favorite vase!" Sakura said. "And now he's refusing to clean up the mess. On top of that, it's probably beyond fixable, and my grandmother gave it to me."

"Can I see?" Kisshu said. "I'm good at fixing things."

"Um…. sure," Sakura said, and leaving Shintaro sulking, led Kisshu over to a vase that was pretty much shattered. Strangely, the bottom part was unharmed, but the rest was in pieces. Kisshu took the bottom, and gently put the broken pieces inside it. Then he closed his eyes, and the pieces began to glow. The vase started to rebuild itself, and when it was done, the vase was as good as new. Kisshu put it back on the shelf, and said, "Does that look okay?"

"Yes, it looks perfect," Sakura said, hugging Kisshu tightly. "Thank you!"

"Sure," Kisshu said. "Ichigo and I are headed to the park, so can you let Mr. Momomiya know?"

"Sure," Sakura said. "I'm going to go get rid of his baseball bat too."

Kisshu smiled, then took Ichigo's hand and teleported. They landed under the big sakura tree in Inohara Park, and sat down. "Kisshu, I didn't know you could fix things like that," Ichigo said. "You're amazing."

"Thanks Koneko-chan," Kisshu said. "It's a talent that's mainly used by women, but it comes in handy for me, because Taruto's constantly breaking stuff. It's cool to be able to fix things. And it makes mechanical repairs easier too."

"That's great," Ichigo said.

Kisshu smirked and pinned her down, chuckling. "Remember this?" he asked.

"Sure do, but you're being more gentle this time," Ichigo said.

"That's because you're not struggling to get away," Kisshu said. "Nice change."

Ichigo giggled, but before either of them could do anything else, someone kicked Kisshu in the side, forcing him to let go of Ichigo. He cried out as Ichigo sat up, and saw Ryou looking angry.

"So I can't even play with my boyfriend without you interfering?" Ichigo asked him angrily. "Why can't you leave me alone?"

"He had you pinned down!" Ryou said angrily. "Why would you let him do that?"

"He has a name, and we were just playing around," Ichigo said, standing up. "I don't understand why you even care. You hate me. Why else would you treat me like dirt and dock my paycheck simply to enjoy the look on my face? Keiichiro must have it wrong; I know you hate me."

"I don't hate you, I love you," Ryou said.

Ichigo just laughed. "Yeah right," she said. "Stop playing around, it's getting old. Besides, even if you were telling the truth, what makes you think I'd leave Kisshu after I made his dream come true? I like that I made him happy."

"He's just using you," Ryou said dismissively.

"I AM NOT!" Kisshu shouted. "I love Ichigo, and I'll never let you have her- if she even wanted you."

"You're going down," Ryou snarled.

"Why should Kisshu go down?" Ichigo asked. "So I can have yet another reason to hate you?"

"You'll fall for me eventually," Ryou said. "But until you do, I think I'll keep you in cat form." With that, he shot a little dart at Ichigo. Even though she dodged, it scraped her arm, and POOF! She was a cat again. Ryou reached down to pick her up, but she leaped onto Kisshu's shoulder before he could get her. Kisshu leaped up into the air and teleported to the basement of Café Mew Mew, causing Keiichiro to look up sharply. "Oh, hello Kisshu," he said with relief. "What's up?"

"Ryou shot some kind of dart at Ichigo, and it turned her into a cat again," Kisshu said. "I got out of there fast." He took Ichigo off his shoulder, cradling her in his arms.

"I should have guessed Ryou would go too far," Keiichiro sighed. "Have you tried kissing her?"

"No," Kisshu said. He lifted Ichigo up, and kissed her on the nose.

Nothing happened.

**Cliffie! I think I'd like some reviews before updating… does 4 sound good?**


	8. Sick Day

**Kitten Love Chapter 8:**

**Sick Day**

Kisshu stopped kissing Neko Ichigo, and said, "Why didn't that work?"

"Maybe because you're not human," Keiichiro said. "Let me try."

Kisshu sighed, but handed Ichigo over, and Keiichiro kissed her on the nose. Still no good. He handed her back to Kisshu, and said, "I'll get to work on figuring out what Ryou did to her; you might as well take her home. Ask the Momomiyas if you can stay with her; she'll be safer that way, and so will they."

"Alright," Kisshu said. "I hope you find something soon." Then he teleported back to Ichigo's house.

Sakura was in the living room when Kisshu teleported in, and her eyes widened when she saw Neko Ichigo. "What happened?" she asked.

"Ryou somehow turned her into a cat, and Keiichiro and I couldn't turn her back," Kisshu said grimly. "Keiichiro's currently working on figuring out what happened and how to fix it."

"So she's stuck in cat form for now?" Sakura asked.

"Hai," Kisshu said. "I was wondering if I could stay with her. If Ryou comes here, she's in danger of being kidnapped. And she can't fight back too well at that size."

"I don't mind you staying here," Sakura said. "But Ryou knows where her room is, right?"

"Probably, but he doesn't know which room the guest room is, does he?" Kisshu said. "I was already sleeping in there; Ichigo can join me. And I can lock the windows; that'll help. He can't teleport."

"Alright," Sakura said. "Do you have anything you need to get from where you're living?"

"Yeah, but I'll bring Ichigo," Kisshu said. "Be right back." He teleported to the ship, which was surprisingly empty. Taruto was most likely at Pudding's again; but where was Pai?

"Koneko-chan, I have to tell Pai, k?" Kisshu asked.

"Myu," Ichigo said. Kisshu went to Pai's lab and knocked on the door. No response. Kisshu banged on the door, and shouted, "OI! PAI!" Still no response. "Maybe he's in his room…." Kisshu sighed, and went to another door. He knocked on this one, and called, "Pai, are you in there?"

He only got a soft groan as a response. Worried, Kisshu opened the door, and went in. Pai was still in bed, and Kisshu asked, "Pai, are you okay?"

"I think I used too much energy getting your mind back to normal…" Pai said weakly.

Kisshu came over and put a hand on Pai's forehead. "Um… Pai, you're burning up," he said. "I don't think a power transfer's going to help much."

Pai didn't respond; he was sleeping again. Kisshu quietly left, and closed the door. "What do I do now?" he asked Neko Ichigo. She looked at him, then jumped out of his arms, sniffed the air, and ran off. Kisshu sighed, assuming she smelled fish or something, and ran after her. He found her in the kitchen, looking at the fruit bowl. "Since when do cats like fruits and vegetables?" he asked. Neko Ichigo poked a paw into the bowl, moving some stuff aside, then stuck her head in and pulled out… a piece of lettuce?

"Uh…" Kisshu said, and then he got it. "You want me to bring Lettuce here to help Pai?" he asked. Neko Ichigo nodded, and spit out the lettuce. Kisshu picked her up, and concentrated, then teleported directly to Lettuce, who was in her room.

Lettuce looked up, startled, as Kisshu teleported in. "Kisshu-san? Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Hai, Pai's pretty sick, and I need you to come help," Kisshu said. "Ryou's out to get Ichigo, and I need to keep her and her parents safe while Keiichiro tries to figure out how to turn her back into a human."

"Pai's sick?" Lettuce asked, worried.

"Yeah, I think he overdid it healing me," Kisshu said. "But it's also possible he just caught something."

"Okay, can you teleport me?" Lettuce asked.

"Yeah, grab my shoulder," Kisshu said. "I'm carrying Ichigo." Lettuce grabbed his shoulder, and he teleported her to the ship.

They landed outside of Pai's door, and Kisshu said, "Do you need me to stay, or can I go back to Ichigo's house?"

"I might need help, so can you stay?" Lettuce asked.

"Hai, I just need to let Sakura know that Ichigo's going to be staying here, it's not safe for her on Earth," Kisshu said. "I'll be right back." Lettuce nodded, and he teleported to Ichigo's living room. No one was there, so he went to the kitchen, and found Sakura peeling potatoes. "Sakura?" he said.

"Oh, you're back Kisshu?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, but I need to go back," Kisshu said. "Pai's sick, and I brought Lettuce to help, but she says she could use my help too, so I came to tell you that I'm bringing Ichigo to my ship. Is that okay? She'll be safer there anyways."

"That's fine, but how are you going to know when or if Keiichiro figures out how to turn her back?" Sakura asked.

"He can contact the ship, and I can contact him," Kisshu said. "I'll take care of Ichigo, I promise."

"Alright, good luck," Sakura said.

Kisshu nodded and teleported back to the ship. He teleported to Pai's room, and found Lettuce in there. She held a finger to her lips when she saw him, and whispered, "Pai's sleeping, let's go outside."

Kisshu walked into the hallway and Lettuce followed, closing the door behind her. "How's he doing?" Kisshu asked.

"He's got a cold," Lettuce said. "And his fever is pretty high. I think part of it is from overworking himself, but he's pretty sick. Do you have fever medicine here?"

"Hai," Kisshu said. "It's in the medical ward. Follow me." Lettuce followed him to another room, which looked like a hospital room with a few shelves of bottles on the wall. "Hold Ichigo for a minute," Kisshu told Lettuce, who obeyed, scratching Ichigo's ears as Kisshu went to the wall of medicines, and started looking at bottles. Finally he took down a red bottle, and came back. "I think this is the right fever medicine," he said.

"You 'think'?" Lettuce said worriedly.

"I'm allergic to most of our medicines, and all the human medicines too," Kisshu said. "I'm not usually allowed in here. Pai was sent to Earth partially because he's a healer. If I had gotten sick or seriously injured without a healer around, I'd have a pretty slim chance of recovery, since I can only take one kind of fever medicine and one kind of stomach medicine safely. Pai's not like that, though. That stuff won't hurt him like it might me. It'll work on fevers, I'm just not exactly sure if that's the type for Toru Fever or lesser fevers caused by other diseases."

Lettuce looked at the bottle, and said, "It says to take a spoonful every six hours."

"That's the one we want, then," Kisshu said. "If it was for Toru Fever, it would say every two hours."

"Alright, let's give some to Pai," Lettuce said.

"Do you need help with that, or can I take Ichigo to my room now?" Kisshu asked.

"I need help finding my way back, and then you can go do whatever," Lettuce said.

"Okay," Kisshu said. He led the way back to Pai's room, and said, "The bathroom is two doors down on the left, and the kitchen is one more door down on the right. Do you need anything else?"

"No, thank you Kisshu-san," Lettuce said, and went into Pai's room. Kisshu teleported to his room with Ichigo, and set her down on the bed.

"Mya?" Ichigo asked.

"I don't understand cat," Kisshu said. "I'm impressed that you managed to find a way to tell me to get Lettuce, though."

Ichigo washed a paw, then rubbed it over her head. Then she leaned against Kisshu. Kisshu chuckled and reached down to scratch her ears. Ichigo had other ideas. She lifted her head a bit, and licked Kisshu's finger with her sandpaper-y tongue. "Do I taste good?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo 'myu'd', and continued licking Kisshu's fingers. "Uh… are you trying to tell me that you're hungry?" Kisshu asked. "I think we have some fish, but please don't eat my fingers."

Ichigo's eyes lit up at the mention of fish, and she looked at Kisshu hopefully. He laughed and picked her up, then teleported. They landed in the kitchen, and Kisshu set Ichigo down, then got out a can of tuna. He opened it, and set it in front of Ichigo. She scampered over and stuck her face into the can, then started eating. Kisshu chuckled, watching her stuff her face. "You must have been hungry," he said when she was done. Ichigo nodded and started washing her face.

"Do you want to go back to my room?" Kisshu asked when she was finished cleaning. Ichigo nodded, so Kisshu picked her up and teleported again. He put her on the bed, and she curled up next to his pillow. She was sound asleep soon after, and Kisshu looked at the clock, realizing he was getting tired too. He stripped off his shirt and took off his boots, then climbed into bed, watching sleepily as Ichigo walked over to curl up next to him. Soon they were both sound asleep.

_**The next morning: **_Kisshu opened his eyes sleepily- and saw a pair of hot pink eyes about an inch away from his golden ones. "YAAH!" he screamed, sitting bolt upright- then realized Ichigo had been sitting on his chest, staring at him for some odd reason. Breathing hard, Kisshu said, "Don't DO that! You scared the living daylights out of me!"

He was less than happy when he noticed Ichigo snickering. "Little monster…" he muttered. When Ichigo calmed down, she looked at Kisshu, who was glaring at her, and put a paw on her forehead. "My forehead?" he asked. Ichigo nodded, so Kisshu put a hand on his forehead, and his eyes widened. "Well, that explains the headache," he muttered. "I'm burning up. Is that why you woke me up like that?" Ichigo nodded, ears drooping.

Kisshu sighed. "Sorry I got mad," he said. "Next time, though, just poke me or something, don't try to scare me like that."

"Myuu," Ichigo said, nodding.

There was a knock on the door, and Kisshu sighed. "Come in," he called. Lettuce timidly opened the door, and said, "Are you coming out for breakfast?"

"Is Pai any better?" Kisshu asked.

"A little," Lettuce said. "Your cheeks are flushed, do you have a fever too?"

"I think so, and I have a headache," Kisshu said.

Lettuce came over and felt his forehead. "Your fever might be higher than Pai's," she said, concerned. "And you said you can't take medicine?"

"Not what Pai's taking," Kisshu said. "There's another kind besides that and the Toru Fever cure, but I don't remember what it looks like. Pai would know."

"I'll go ask," Lettuce said. "Take it easy till I get back." She left, and Kisshu started to lie back down.

Suddenly his stomach started feeling weird, and he jumped out of bed, running to a door at the back of his room. He threw it open, turning on the light in there, and ran in. Ichigo followed, and when she went in, she saw it was a bathroom, and Kisshu was throwing up. She came over and leaned against him, trying to make him feel better as he coughed up everything he had eaten yesterday.

When Kisshu finished, he looked at Ichigo, who looked back, concern in her hot pink eyes. "I wish I could say I'll be fine, but I feel awful," Kisshu said. "I just hope Lettuce doesn't bring food in here, I think it'll make me sick." He got up and went back to his bed, then sat down, and Ichigo curled up next to him. Lettuce came back in with a bowl of what smelled like miso soup. Unfortunately, Kisshu was right; the smell made him feel sick. "Not good timing," he told Lettuce, then ran to the bathroom again. Ichigo followed as Kisshu threw up again. Like before, she leaned against him as he coughed stuff up.

Lettuce came in as he stood up and said, "I took the soup back to the kitchen, I'm sorry it made you sick. Is there something wrong with your stomach?"

"It doesn't feel good, and not much else feels good either," Kisshu said. "Did you ask Pai about the fever medicine?"

"Yeah, and I got it, but it can't be taken on an empty stomach," Lettuce said. "I don't think you can have any if you can't keep food down. I'll go ask Pai about stomach medicine." She left again, and Kisshu sighed and got back in bed. Ichigo came over, and walked over his legs to the other side of the bed.

Kisshu started petting her, and she purred at him. Lettuce came back in a few minutes later, and said, "I got the stomach medicine, can you take some?"

"Yeah…" Kisshu said; petting Ichigo was making him sleepy. Lettuce measured some medicine onto a spoon, and gave it to Kisshu, who swallowed it. "Now can I go to sleep?" Kisshu asked.

"Yes, it's good for you," Lettuce said. She left to check on Pai as Kisshu fell asleep.

**Okay, before you flame me, just know that Kisshu getting sick is necessary for the next part of this story to happen. I'll update again soon; please don't flame me. But Review!**


	9. Ichigo's New Power

**Kitten Love Chapter 9:**

**Ichigo's New Power**

Kisshu woke up a while later, feeling dizzy. He put his hand on his forehead again- and immediately yanked it off. Ichigo was looking at him in concern, and he laid back as he told her, "I think my fever went up. Not to mention I'm dizzy." Ichigo came over and rubbed his cheek lightly.

Kisshu put a hand over his eyes and groaned; he was getting dizzier by the minute. "Not good…" he muttered as he heard footsteps.

Lettuce came in a minute later and said, "How are you?"

"Worse," Kisshu said. "I'm really dizzy, and I think my fever went up."

Lettuce felt his forehead, and gasped. "You're in really bad shape," she told him. "Pai's a little better, I'll go talk to him. Oh, and I brought a bucket in here after you went to sleep, so don't try to get up if you feel sick."

"Thanks…" Kisshu said weakly. He heard Lettuce leave, and sighed. The dizziness was still getting worse, and he looked at Ichigo. She looked back worriedly. Kisshu was about to say something, when he felt his stomach start doing backflips. On top of that, it HURT. He clapped a hand over his mouth, and looked around for the bucket. Ichigo pointed to the far side of the bed from her, and Kisshu flipped over and dragged the bucket closer just before he got sick. This time felt a lot worse; five minutes after he started, he still felt like his stomach was doing backflips, and he couldn't stop throwing up. He opened his eyes- and got scared, because he was coughing up blood. Finally he stopped, gasping for breath. He laid back, and looked at Ichigo. When he tried to speak, he soon found his voice was gone too.

Ichigo had noticed the blood on his lips, though, and even though her mind was slowly turning into a cat's mind, she knew she had to do something. As Kisshu laid back again, his breathing harsh, she climbed onto his chest and began purring.

_Why is she purring? And more importantly, why did she climb onto my chest? _Kisshu wondered. Suddenly he felt really sleepy, so he closed his eyes, and almost immediately went to sleep. Sound asleep, he didn't notice that Ichigo was emitting a pink glow.

Ichigo had felt something inside, like her Mew powers, which told her to climb onto Kisshu's chest and start purring. She soon felt power flowing out of her into Kisshu. For some reason, she knew she shouldn't open her eyes. Finally she felt the flow of power stop, and decided to open her eyes. When she looked up, she saw Pai and Lettuce looking down at her, seemingly shocked. "Ichigo, you were glowing," Pai said.

Ichigo looked at him, then at Kisshu. Lettuce said, "I think you healed him, Ichigo-san. Pai, can you check?"

Pai nodded, and placed a hand on Kisshu's chest. "You're right, Lettuce," he said. "Kisshu will be fine when he wakes up. That's amazing, Ichigo. Especially since you're not in Mew Form."

"What if this power only works when she's in cat form?" Lettuce asked. "She climbed onto Kisshu-san's chest, and started purring, two things she can't really do in human or Mew form. Maybe the reason it worked is because she was already in cat form."

"Whatever the reason, it's great," Pai said. He patted Ichigo's head. "Good work," he said. Ichigo squeaked. Then she curled up for a nap, still on Kisshu's chest.

Kisshu woke up two hours later to find Pai sitting next to him, and Ichigo asleep on his chest. "Pai, are you feeling better?" he asked.

"I'm feeling a lot better, what about you?" Pai asked.

"I feel fine," Kisshu said. "What happened? Earlier I was coughing up blood, now it's like I was never sick."

"Ichigo healed you," Pai said. "When Lettuce came to get me, and we came back in here, Ichigo was sitting on your chest, purring, and she was glowing pink. The glow was spread over your body, and when it faded, I checked you out, and she had completely healed whatever it was you had."

"Wow, but she's not in Mew Form," Kisshu said.

"Lettuce thinks it might be that she can only heal in cat form," Pai said. "She had curled up directly over your heart. I think Lettuce might be right; she has to be in cat form to heal."

"Interesting," Kisshu said. "Well, it worked, I feel great."

"I'm glad," Pai said with relief. "I was pretty worried when Lettuce came to get me, saying your fever was really high. And I saw blood in the bucket; you had me pretty worried."

"Sorry," Kisshu said. "I'm fine now though. And hungry."

"Let's get something to eat," Pai said. "Lettuce made some soup."

"Ichigo's sleeping," Kisshu said.

"I'll get her off," Pai said. He picked Ichigo up gently and placed her on the bed. She immediately curled back up and continued sleeping as Kisshu got out of bed. He was about to walk out the door when Pai said, "You should put your shirt back on…"

Kisshu looked sheepish, and grabbed a shirt, then put it on. Then he and Pai left Ichigo sleeping on the bed.

Ichigo woke up a while later, and stretched, yawning. Then she noticed Kisshu was gone, and got worried. "Myuuu…." she said sadly. Then she jumped off the bed and went out the open door to look for Kisshu. She looked in lots of rooms, but didn't find him. She decided to smell him, and sniffed the air. She smelled some kind of food, so she headed in that direction. Finally she came to the kitchen door, and saw that there were feet under the table. She walked around the table to find Kisshu. He didn't see her at first- until she jumped on him, startling him. "Ichigo, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Myuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" Ichigo wailed.

"I think she found you gone and got worried," Lettuce said.

Kisshu looked down at the kitten who was rubbing his chest in a rather frantic manner, and said, "Sorry, I just wanted to let you sleep. Thanks for healing me, I feel great!"

"Mya?" Ichigo asked softly.

"Really, I'm fine," Kisshu said. "Sorry I worried you."

"Nyaa…" Ichigo sighed, and climbed onto Kisshu's shoulder.

"She's getting really attached to you, Kisshu," Pai said. "She's also getting more cat-like, which worries me."

"You think that soon she won't be able to turn back?" Lettuce asked.

"That's what I'm worried about," Pai said. "I'll go call Keiichiro, he should know." He got up and teleported out as Ichigo drooped on Kisshu's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said. "We'll work something out."

"Myuu," Ichigo said.

"Are you hungry?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo jumped onto the table, and sniffed the bowl of miso soup Kisshu was eating. "That's mine, but I guess you can have your own," Kisshu said, looking at Lettuce.

"Do cats even like miso soup?" Lettuce asked doubtfully.

"Maybe Ichigo does?" Kisshu suggested.

Lettuce sighed and put a small amount in a little bowl, then put it on the table. Ichigo went over, then started lapping it up. When she was done, she looked hopefully at Lettuce. "Myu?' she asked.

"You like that?" Lettuce asked. Ichigo nodded. Lettuce gave her more, and she lapped that up as Pai came back.

"Uh… I don't think that's very good for her," Pai said.

"She likes it," Kisshu said. "She asked for more."

Pai sighed. "Some animals will eat things that aren't good for them for that reason," he said. "They like the taste, so they'll eat it. Kind of like dogs and chocolate. Dogs will eat chocolate, even though it's really bad for them."

"You mean Ichigo's going to get sick?" Kisshu asked, worried.

"Maybe, but I do have the ability to heal, so she'll probably be fine," Pai said. He took the half-empty dish of miso soup away, and Ichigo hissed. "It's not good for you, so you need to stop eating it," Pai said. "I'll go get you some milk."

Ichigo's ears drooped. Suddenly it sounded like she was choking on something. Pai came over and put a finger on her chest, then said, "I was right, cats shouldn't eat miso soup." His finger began to glow, and Ichigo stopped making the choking sound. Finally Pai took his finger away and said, "She needs to sleep off the healing, so take her back to your room, Kisshu. And don't teleport."

"Okay," Kisshu said. He gently picked Ichigo up. She didn't even stir as he carried her back to his room and put her on his bed.

Two hours later, Kisshu was worried, because she wasn't even stirring. _This is all my fault, _he thought as tears started to run down his face. _I should have listened when Lettuce said she didn't think it was good for her. _Eventually Kisshu's emotions caused him to fall asleep.

Ichigo woke up a while after Kisshu fell asleep and stretched. She was feeling better, but that quickly faded when she noticed Kisshu was asleep next to her, and his face was tearstained. Worried, she went over and started licking his cheek, hoping he would wake up okay.

Kisshu woke up to something like sandpaper rubbing his cheek. He opened his eyes- and saw Ichigo about an inch from his nose again. He sat up fast, and fell off the bed with a thud in the process. Groaning, he looked at Ichigo and said, "Didn't I tell you to poke me or something next time?"

Ichigo's ears drooped, and her eyes went really sad. Kisshu saw, and reached out to pet her, but she backed up a bit, then burrowed under his blankets. Kisshu sighed, and heard a muffled wail. "I wish I could understand cat," he muttered. "I never expected to have a cat for a girlfriend, though." This produced another muffled wail from under the blankets, and then Ichigo got out from under the blankets and ran out the door.

"I hurt her feelings, didn't I?" Kisshu said to the now empty room. He sighed. "I'd better go find her and apologize, she was probably just worried because she knew I'd been crying." With that in mind, he started looking around the ship.

Half an hour later, he still hadn't found her. Finally he teleported to Lettuce, hoping she'd know something. He found her in the kitchen, and she was cradling Ichigo in her arms. Lettuce hadn't seemed to notice him for some reason, and she was talking to Ichigo softly. "Come on, it's not that bad," she said. "Kisshu still loves you, he's just worried, like the rest of us are. None of us wants you to permanently become a cat. Is that what you want?"

Ichigo shook her head. "See?" Lettuce said. "It's not going to be easy if you turn into a cat for good. What about your parents? It's not only Kisshu who wants you to turn back, and I'm certain he's not only worried about the fact that it's harder to kiss a cat. He really cares about you, he didn't mean to hurt your feelings. And you really shouldn't wake someone up by staring at them, it's not a very nice thing to do. Would you like it if Kisshu woke you up like that?"

Ichigo shook her head. Lettuce sighed. "I'm sure Kisshu's looking for you, so you should go find him. I think you both need to apologize, since you scared him, and he hurt your feelings. I know it was scary when you woke up and found him lying next to you with his face tearstained, but you could have poked him rather than scared him awake. And I know you got scared because you though he might have hurt himself, but you could have checked to see if he was breathing before panicking. Next time, check first, then panic, k?"

"Myu," Ichigo said softly.

Lettuce petted her a little, then gently put her down.

**Apologies and more fluff next chapter. It's currently 2:30 AM, so that's it for this morning people. Review Please! :)**


	10. Turning Back

**Kitten Love Chapter 10:**

**Turning Back**

Ichigo sighed after Lettuce put her down, and walked toward Kisshu. Apparently she hadn't noticed him, because she squeaked when he walked over to her. "Sorry I startled you," he said softly. "And I'm sorry I hurt your feelings, I was just a bit unhappy about being scared awake."

"Myu," Ichigo said, nodding. "Myuu, mya nyan nya."

"She's sorry she scared you," Lettuce said, coming over.

"It's okay, but please don't do that again," Kisshu said. "Lettuce, you can understand her?"

"Hai, but I don't know why," Lettuce said. "My Mew animal is about as far from a cat as you can get."

"Maybe it's because you're both Mews," Kisshu said. "Where's Pai?"

"Contacting Keiichiro," Lettuce said- right as Pai teleported in.

"Pai, what did Keiichiro say?" Kisshu asked.

"He developed something that will probably turn Ichigo back, but Ryou's vanished," Pai said. "We'll have to be careful. Let's go to the Café."

Kisshu nodded and teleported to the basement. Pai and Lettuce teleported in right as he did. Keiichiro was there, and he said, "I found a cure, but we'll have to be careful afterwards. Ryou could do this again, and we'd be back to square one."

"Alright," Kisshu said.

Keiichiro nodded and picked up a needle with a canister attached, and Ichigo squeaked. "It's okay, it'll get you back to normal," Kisshu told her softly. Ichigo still seemed nervous, but let Keiichiro put the needle in her leg, and push the serum he had developed into her bloodstream. When it was all gone, Keiichiro said, "Put her down, she should be back to normal in a few minutes."

Kisshu put her down on the floor, and as they watched, she started to transform back into a human. When she was fully transformed back, she was sound asleep. "Take her home," Keiichiro said softly. "She'll be fine when she wakes up."

Kisshu gently picked her up and teleported to Ichigo's house. He landed in the living room, and Shintaro looked up from his paper. "What happened?" he asked.

"Keiichiro turned her back, but said she needs to rest," Kisshu said. "She should be fine when she wakes up."

"Okay," Shintaro said.

Kisshu took Ichigo upstairs, and to her room, then tucked her into her bed and sat down in her desk chair.

Two hours later, Kisshu was still watching her, when she started crying out in her sleep. Worried, Kisshu went over and shook her. "Koneko-chan, wake up," he said softly. Ichigo woke up with a start, looking scared. "Did you have a nightmare?" Kisshu asked her gently.

Ichigo looked confused. "Who are you, and why are you in my room?" she asked.

Kisshu's eyes widened. "You don't remember me?" he asked shakily.

"No…" Ichigo said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Kisshu, your boyfriend," Kisshu said.

"What happened to your ears?" Ichigo asked.

"They always looked like this," Kisshu said gloomily.

"Why are you sad?" Ichigo asked.

"Because you don't remember me…" Kisshu said sadly.

Pai teleported in just then, and Ichigo said, "Hi Pai."

"Wait, you remember Pai, but you don't remember me?" Kisshu asked, confused.

"No," Ichigo said.

Pai sighed and said, "Keiichiro just realized his serum had a little problem. It has a weird side effect of causing the person it's used on to forget the person they care about the most. They remember everything else, except that person."

"NOW what do I do?" Kisshu wailed.

"Well, for starters, you could calm down and listen to the rest of it," Pai suggested dryly. "I think I can reverse that side effect, but Ichigo might get kind of clingy afterwards. You'd better go tell her parents you'd appreciate if you could stay, and explain why."

"Okay," Kisshu said. As Pai put a hand on Ichigo's forehead, Kisshu walked downstairs, and to the kitchen. He found Sakura in there, and she said, "Oh, hi Kisshu, what's up?"

"Pai's reversing the side effects of Keiichiro's serum, but he says Ichigo's going to be clingy to me for a while, and I was wondering if I could stay here so she doesn't start thinking I don't like her," Kisshu said.

"Sure," Sakura said. "You can have the guest room."

"Thanks," Kisshu said, and went back upstairs.

Pai was still standing over Ichigo, a hand on her forehead. She was asleep again, and Kisshu remained silent until Pai took his hand away. Pai looked at Kisshu, and said, "That should do it, but stay with her, okay?"

"Of course," Kisshu said. "I'll look after her, you go play with the fish."

"A Finless Porpoise is NOT a fish," Pai sighed. "It's a marine mammal."

"Yeah, whatever," Kisshu said. "Go play with the marine mammal, then."

"She has a name, you know," Pai growled.

"Yeah, but don't you think a nickname would be a good idea?" Kisshu asked. "How about 'Little Fish'? 'Little marine mammal' doesn't have a very nice ring to it…"

Pai growled at him. "You could call her Fishy-chan," Kisshu suggested, smirking.

Pai snarled and lunged at Kisshu, but before he could start strangling him, Sakura walked in, saw them, and said, "Pai, do I need to tell my husband that he can beat you up now? NO FIGHTING IN THE HOUSE!"

Pai sighed. "Sorry Mrs. Momomiya," he said. "I think I'll be going now."

"Don't forget the nickname," Kisshu said as Pai started to teleport. Pai just snarled and teleported out.

"Nickname?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, I was telling him he should give Lettuce a nickname, like how I call Ichigo 'Koneko-chan'," Kisshu said. "I suggested Little Fish, and Fishy-chan, and then he tried to strangle me."

Sakura sighed, but they noticed Ichigo was waking up. Kisshu went over and sat next to her on the bed. "Koneko-chan?" he asked.

"Kishy?" Ichigo asked. "Do you still love me?"

"Of course, I'll always love you," Kisshu said. "What would make you ask that?"

"I thought you didn't like cats…." Ichigo said.

"I love cats," Kisshu said. "And I love you."

Ichigo perked up a bit, and hugged Kisshu. "I love you too, Kishy," she said happily.

"Kishy?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo ruffled his hair. "That's you!" she said. "Do you like your new nickname?"

Kisshu smiled. "I'm glad you gave me a nickname," he said.

Ichigo smiled happily, and ruffled his hair again. Then she jumped up and pulled Kisshu up too. Totally ignoring the fact that Sakura was still there, she kissed Kisshu passionately. He kissed back with equal passion, despite the fact that Ichigo was acting pretty different, and it kind of worried him. She had gone from sad to extremely happy pretty quickly.

Ichigo broke off the kiss for air soon after, and noticed Kisshu looked a bit dazed. "Kishy, are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kisshu said. "You're good at kissing, Koneko-chan."

Ichigo smiled happily, and said, "Let's go eat ice cream now!"

"O-okay," Kisshu said.

Noticing his hesitation, Ichigo said, "You don't like ice cream?"

"I've never had ice cream," Kisshu said.

Ichigo perked up. "I love it, you should try it," she said. "We've got some strawberry in the freezer, come on." She took his hand and dragged him downstairs.

Shintaro looked up as they passed. "Where are you going?" he asked in a forbidding tone.

"The kitchen, Kishy's never tried ice cream before," Ichigo said.

"Not too much before dinner," Shintaro said, and went back to his book.

Ichigo smiled and dragged Kisshu into the kitchen. "I'll get it, you can sit down," she told him. Kisshu sat at the kitchen table and watched as Ichigo got out bowls, spoons, and the ice cream, and started scooping some into each bowl. Then she brought the bowls to the table, and put one in front of Kisshu. "Try it!" she said, sitting down with her own bowl.

Kisshu hesitantly tried the strawberry ice cream, and looked surprised. "This is really good," he said.

"See?" Ichigo said. "I love ice cream!"

Kisshu smiled and continued eating, finishing before Ichigo did. "Thanks Koneko-chan, that was really good," Kisshu said.

Ichigo smiled happily. She finished up her own bowl, and said, "Let's go somewhere!"

"Okay, but we have to be careful, Ryou's still out to get us," Kisshu said.

"Okay," Ichigo said. "Let's go to the park!"

Kisshu smiled at her enthusiasm, and said, "We have to tell your parents first."

Ichigo ran into the living room and said excitedly, "Kishy and I are going to the park, Dad!"

Kisshu came in as Shintaro said, "Fine, but be back before dinner, which is at six."

"Okay!" Ichigo said cheerfully, and looked at Kisshu. "Do you want to walk, or teleport?" she asked.

"Let's walk," Kisshu said. Ichigo smiled and took his hand, then went out the door. They walked hand in hand to Inohara Park, neither of them noticing the pair of eyes watching them jealously.

**Whose eyes are watching them? Is it Ryou? Or someone else? Review and find out- next chapter!**


	11. An Unexpected Enemy

**Kitten Love Chapter 11:**

**An Unexpected Enemy**

Ichigo and Kisshu reached the park, unaware they had been followed. A pair of jealous brown eyes watched them from behind a nearby tree. "Why does she have everything?" a voice sighed softly. The owner of the eyes and voice watched, seething, as Ichigo kissed Kisshu, and he kissed back, looking like he was in heaven.

"I don't get it, she was mean and rejected him countless times, but he still loves her," the voice said. "Why can't he love me like that?"

The voice and eyes belonged to none other than Mint, and she was not happy. Though the others thought that she most likely had a crush on Ryou, they were very wrong. She had felt sorry for Kisshu from day one, and those feelings started to grow into love. But then Ichigo just HAD to realize she was actually in love with Kisshu, and Mint's chance was gone. _Maybe I should just get rid of Ichigo, _Mint thought. _The others would never suspect me; they'd suspect Ryou, and they'd all be out to get him, and I could have Kisshu. Only problem is, I'd have to pretend that I was sorry Ichigo died. _

She sighed- and then heard teleportation behind her. Little did she know, Kisshu had heard her say, "Why does she have everything?", and decided to fake her out for a while before seeing why Mint was spying on them.

Mint spun- and came face-to-face with Kisshu, who didn't look very happy. "So why were you spying on us?" he asked.

Mint turned red, and didn't respond. Kisshu, impatient, closed his eyes, concentrating, and said, "You were going to kill Ichigo, make it look like Ryou did it, and get me while the others hunted him down? Forget it, Birdy. I don't love you, and after reading that, I never will." Then he teleported back to Ichigo, leaving Mint on her knees, shocked.

Ichigo looked up as Kisshu teleported back next to her. "Kishy, what happened?" she asked.

"Mint decided she was going to kill you in order to make me fall in love with her," Kisshu said disgustedly. "As if that would ever happen."

"Mint was going to kill me?" Ichigo asked, sounding scared.

Kisshu hugged her. "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you," he said. "And it's almost six, let's get back to your house. Don't want your dad to blow his top, right?"

Ichigo giggled, and Kisshu teleported her back to the living room. "We're back!" Ichigo called.

"We're in the kitchen," Sakura called back. "Come on in, dinner's almost ready."

Ichigo and Kisshu came into the kitchen, and sat down with Shintaro at the table as Sakura put a bowl of salad and a bowl of pesto pasta on the table. They started passing the food around, and started eating. "So Kishy, what's it like having siblings?" Ichigo asked.

"Annoying," Kisshu said. "Pai's an emotionless weirdo, and Taruto's a hyper pest."

"It's not that bad, is it?" Sakura asked.

"The last time Pai showed emotion was sometime last week, and it was freaky," Kisshu said.

"Oh yeah, you came back here convinced that he had cursed you by laughing at you," Ichigo said.

"I have a younger brother, and he's not that bad," Shintaro said.

Kisshu raised an eyebrow. "Have you see Taruto on sugar high? NOT a pretty sight, and since Pudding is constantly feeding him candy, it's BAD," he said. "The last time he was on sugar high, he spent the night on the ship screaming about how 'barbecue sauce flavored shampoo' was trying to eat him alive," Kisshu said. "I ended up in a tree in Inohara Park, sleeping on a branch, because Taruto would. Not. Shut. Up."

"That sounds pretty bad," Shintaro admitted. "My brother never did that- but our mom was pretty strict about sugar."

"It makes me wish Pai and Taruto's mom was here to control the little monster," Kisshu sighed.

"You called me a little monster the other day," Ichigo said.

"And why was that?" Shintaro asked in a stern tone.

"She was still in cat form, and I woke up to find her staring at me!" Kisshu said defensively. "She was sitting on my chest, and the first thing I saw when I woke up was this pair of big hot pink eyes. Jeez was that scary. And then she started laughing at me!"

"Ichigo, don't you know better than to scare people like that?" Sakura sighed.

"I wanted him to wake up because I noticed he had a bad fever, and it's a little hard to tell him that when I can't talk," Ichigo said.

"Kisshu, you were sick? Are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"I'm fine, Ichigo can heal in cat form," Kisshu said.

"Good," Sakura said. "Does anyone want apple cake?"

"Yeah!" Kisshu and Ichigo said excitedly. Sakura smiled and got it out, then cut some for everyone.

"So how was the park?" Shintaro asked.

"I found Mint spying on us, and she's planning on killing Ichigo," Kisshu said. "It was pretty till I noticed her, though."

"Why does Mint want to kill Ichigo?" Sakura asked, worried.

"So she can have me," Kisshu said. "Like that would ever work. I never liked her. And I told her that. Still, I guess Ichigo and I will have to be careful, with Ryou still on the loose and Mint wanting Ichigo out of the way."

Sakura looked worried. "I'll protect Ichigo, I promise," Kisshu said.

"You're sweet, Kishy," Ichigo said. Kisshu blushed slightly. Ichigo giggled and said, "Let's go back to my room."

"Okay," Kisshu said.

"Don't go too far," Shintaro warned them.

"We won't," Ichigo said.

Kisshu followed her to her room, and they sat on the bed, closing the door. Suddenly Kisshu sensed something outside, and pushed Ichigo to one side as a dart flew into the room. Unfortunately, while the dart didn't hit Ichigo, it hit Kisshu in the arm, and he began to glow, crying out in pain. "Kishy!" Ichigo cried out. She pulled the dart out of his arm and threw it out the window, then closed and locked the window. When she turned back, Kisshu was gone. "Kishy?" Ichigo asked, scared.

Instead of Kisshu's voice, she heard a small, sad 'nyaaa...'. Looking down, she saw a small black kitten with golden eyes looking up at her from the floor. "Kishy?" she whispered, shocked. "You're a kitten?"

Neko Kisshu nodded, then started wailing. The noise brought Sakura and Shintaro running, and they both ran into the room, then stopped dead. "What happened?" Sakura asked.

"Someone shot a dart into my room, and Kishy pushed me out of the way, but he got hit instead, and now he's a kitten," Ichigo said. She picked up the little black kitten, cradling him in her arms.

"Did you try kissing him?" Sakura asked.

Ichigo looked at Kisshu, and then lifted him up and kissed him on the nose. A minute later, she broke it off, but nothing happened. "Myuuuu…." Kisshu said sadly.

Ichigo went back to cradling Kisshu in her arms. He looked sad. "I'm sorry, Kishy," Ichigo said. "If I had moved sooner, you wouldn't be a cat."

Sakura sighed. "I'll go call Keiichiro and have him get Pai," she said. "You try to cheer Kisshu up."

Ichigo put Kisshu down on the bed and started petting him as her mother took her cell phone and started looking through her contacts, eventually pressing Send.

She eventually got a response, and said, "Keiichiro? Yes, this is Ichigo's mom. No, this time Kisshu turned into a cat. Ichigo says someone shot a dart through her window, and it hit Kisshu rather than her. When? Okay, see you soon." She hung up, and looked at Ichigo, who was petting Kisshu. "Keiichiro will be over in about ten minutes," she told them.

"Nyaaa…" Kisshu said.

"I know it's hard," Ichigo told him. "But Keiichiro will help."

Kisshu curled up on her lap.

A little while later, Pai teleported in with Keiichiro, and they looked at the sad kitten in Ichigo's lap. "I brought the serum," Keiichiro said.

"Doesn't that mean Kishy will forget who I am?" Ichigo asked.

"I worked that out," Keiichiro said. "And besides, Pai can take care of that."

"Okay," Ichigo said. Keiichiro came over with a needle, and Kisshu looked at it listlessly. "Kishy, hold out your leg," Ichigo said.

Kisshu sighed and obeyed, and Keiichiro injected him with the serum. Ichigo carefully moved him off her lap when Keiichiro was done, putting him on the bed. A minute later, Kisshu started to change back. Finally the transformation was complete, and Kisshu lay sound asleep on Ichigo's bed. Pai put a hand on his forehead, and sighed. "No problems, he just needs to sleep off the serum," he said softly. "Ichigo, you'll stay with him, right?"

"Of course," Ichigo said. "I'm getting tired too, I'll climb in with him. I bet he'll like that."

"Well, I won't," Shintaro grumbled.

"Okay honey, time to leave them alone, we both know they won't do anything," Sakura said firmly. She pushed Shintaro out of the room and closed the door. Pai teleported out with Keiichiro as Ichigo carefully pulled the blankets over Kisshu, then climbed into bed with him. She put her arms around him, and to her surprise, he snuggled up to her in his sleep. Soon she was asleep too.

The next morning, she woke up, and was surprised that Kisshu was still asleep. She felt his forehead, but he didn't have a fever. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was about ten AM, and got worried. _He's been sleeping for nearly eleven hours, you'd think he'd be up by now, _she thought. _Unless he's got cat genes now too, and he's going to be like me. I need at least ten hours of sleep, or I'm too tired. Maybe that's it. _She sighed and tried to get up, but noticed Kisshu's arms were locked around her waist. She tried to loosen his grip, but couldn't for some reason. _I hope he's okay, _she thought worriedly. She shook him lightly, and said, "Kishy, time to wake up."

Kisshu sighed in his sleep, but didn't do anything else. Ichigo shook him again, saying, "Kishy, are you okay?"

Kisshy slowly opened his eyes. "What time is it?" he asked sleepily.

"Ten in the morning," Ichigo said. "You've been sleeping for about eleven hours, are you feeling okay?"

Kisshu sat bolt upright. "I've been _asleep _for eleven _hours_!?" he asked incredulously.

"Is that bad?" Ichigo asked, sitting up as well.

"I've never slept that long in my life," Kisshu said.

"I need at least ten hours, because I'm part cat," Ichigo said. "A real cat needs about nineteen hours of sleep, but I'm not like that. If you got cat genes from last night, though, it might explain why you slept so long."

"Great…." Kisshu moaned. "Now it's going to be really hard to get up early, isn't it?"

"Yep, at least for me," Ichigo said. "I don't like getting up early."

"I like to get up early to train," Kisshu said. "This isn't going to be good if I'm tired all the time."

"I manage," Ichigo said. "But we can talk to Pai later if you want. Another possibility is that you just needed to sleep off the serum Keiichiro injected you with, and you don't have cat genes at all."

Kisshu perked up a bit. "I'm hungry," he said. "Can we have breakfast before we call Pai?"

Ichigo smiled. "Sure."

**Here's a question: Should Kisshu have cat genes? Or did he just need to sleep off the serum? Tell me in a review, k?**


	12. Cat Genes

**Kitten Love Chapter 12:**

**Cat Genes**

Later that day, Kisshu teleported to the ship with Ichigo. "Pai's probably in his lab," he told Ichigo. Then he led the way to a large metal door, and said softly, "It doesn't work if I'm not loud, just so you know."

Ichigo giggled softly, then watched as Kisshu banged on the door. No response. Kisshu continued banging on the door, and then shouted, "OI! PAI!"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT, YOU LITTLE GREEN-HAIRED PEST!?" Pai shouted back.

"I WANT YOU TO LET ME IN!" Kisshu shouted, then muttered, "Eggplant brains…"

Ichigo went into a giggle fit as they heard Pai stomp over to the door. Then he yanked it open and said, "You're doomed if this isn't important, Kisshu."

"Ichigo said I was asleep for eleven hours, and that I might have cat genes," Kisshu said. "Can you find out?"

Pai looked worried. "Eleven hours? And you're not feeling sick?" he asked.

"No, I feel fine," Kisshu said.

Pai sighed. "Come in, and don't touch things," he said.

"I'm not Taruto," Kisshu said.

Pai led the way into his lab, and said, "Go sit down in the usual chair, I'll get the needle."

Kisshu sighed, and went over to a chair, then sat down. Pai came back with a needle attached to a little canister, and said, "Hold out your arm."

Kisshu did so, looking away as Pai took some of his blood. Pai took a full canister, and then bandaged the prick in Kisshu's arm. "I'll look at this, and I should have results soon," he told Kisshu and Ichigo. "Till then, you should go back to your room, and don't teleport, got it?"

Kisshu sighed. "Fine, we'll walk," he said.

As they walked out of the lab, Ichigo asked, "Why did Pai say not to teleport?"

"Getting blood drawn makes me really dizzy for some reason, and the first-and last- time I teleported right after getting blood drawn, I managed to reach my room, but then I collapsed," Kisshu said. "And when I woke up I found myself in bed, with Pai standing over me asking what I had been thinking. Not a pleasant experience. That's why I can't teleport right after getting blood drawn. And the more blood that gets taken, the dizzier I get. Pai discovered that taking three little vials was too much, 'cause I got so dizzy I threw up. The most he takes now is one, and he just has to hope it's going to be enough to do whatever he needs."

"I used to have to have blood drawn a lot when I was little," Ichigo said. "I got used to it after a while."

"Why'd you have to have blood drawn?" Kisshu asked.

"I was born too early," Ichigo said. "And when I was first born, the doctors didn't think I was going to survive more than about two weeks. I proved them wrong, obviously, but it's a good thing I wasn't made into a Mew at a younger age. It's only been in the past four years of my life that I've gotten stronger. Up till I was about nine, people had to be careful with me, because I was pretty fragile. By the time I met you, though, I was pretty strong."

"I noticed," Kisshu said with a smile. "Wow, I never would have guessed that about you."

"Nowadays, most people wouldn't," Ichigo said.

They had reached Kisshu's room, and when they went in, Kisshu nearly fell on the bed. "I guess I can only keep the dizziness at bay for a little while," he said. "I think I should lie down for a bit, before it starts to affect my stomach. Will you stay?"

"Sure," Ichigo said softly. She sat next to Kisshu as he laid back, and started stroking his hair. He leaned into her hand, falling asleep pretty quickly. Ichigo continued stroking his hair, even after he was sound asleep. To her surprise, he started purring about five minutes after he had fallen asleep. _I guess he does have cat genes, unless there's something about Cyniclons that I don't know… _Ichigo thought.

Pai teleported in about twenty minutes later, and looked worried. "Why is he sleeping?" he asked Ichigo softly.

"He said he was dizzy," Ichigo said. "And I think he does have cat genes; he's been purring since I started stroking his hair."

"You're right," Pai said. "He does have cat genes; whatever that dart was gave him cat genes, and now he's like you; he'll be able to turn into a cat, and probably get the ears and tail in Cyniclon form as well."

"He's not going to be happy about that…" Ichigo said. "He wasn't happy when I suggested he had cat genes too."

"Well, he'll learn to live with it, like you did," Pai said. "I guess I'll heal the dizziness and wake him up; he'll need to know this." He put a hand on Kisshu's forehead, and it began to glow. When the glow faded, he tapped Kisshu's forehead, and Kisshu woke up.

"What's up?" Kisshu asked.

"You've got cat genes," Pai said. "You're going to have similar abilities to Ichigo's, and yes, that includes the ability to turn into a cat. And you'll need more rest than you used to as well. Ichigo told me you were purring earlier."

Kisshu sat up and groaned. "I don't want to have cat genes," he said. "Can't you undo this?"

"No more than I could undo Ichigo's cat genes," Pai said. "It's been infused with your DNA; to take that out could kill you. You'll still have your Cyniclon abilities, though, so don't worry about losing that."

"That's the only good thing about this," Kisshu grumbled. "When I find the person who did this, their life will be OVER."

"That's not going to help," Pai commented.

"Yeah, but it'll make me feel better," Kisshu said. "And it's Mint or Ryou, so that should be easy."

"Kishy, if I can handle cat genes, I'm sure you can too," Ichigo said. "But you can still kill Mint and Ryou if it makes you feel better."

"I was planning on it before I got cat genes," Kisshu said. "Who should we take down first?"

"Ryou, he's more dangerous," Ichigo said.

"Let's go find him then," Kisshu said.

Pai sighed. "Shouldn't you go tell Ichigo's parents that you're going to take their daughter on a revenge mission?" he asked. "They should know where you are, or Mr. Momomiya will have a fit."

"He's got a point, Kishy," Ichigo said.

Kisshu sighed. "Let's go then," he said, and took Ichigo's hand, then teleported.

They landed in the living room, and Shintaro looked up from a book. "Where have you been?" he asked.

"At the ship, waiting for Kisshu's lab results," Ichigo said. "Pai tested his blood to see if he has cat genes from last night."

"And?" Shintaro asked.

"Yep," Kisshu said gloomily. "And now we're going to go kill Ryou, so I guess I'll have Ichigo back in time for dinner- or before 11, one or the other."

"In time for dinner would be preferable, and yes, you can stay too," Shintaro said. He noticed Kisshu looked shocked, and said somewhat defensively, "I'm not going soft, but I already know what Sakura will say if I don't invite you. She'll say something along the lines of-"

He broke off as Sakura came into the room and said, "She'll say that of course Kisshu can stay for dinner, he's welcome to come every night, and she'll keep her overprotective husband under control while he's here."

Shintaro sighed and hid behind his book. Ichigo giggled and said, "Dad, you should go soft. It'll make your life easier."

"Why is everyone ganging up on me to go soft?" Shintaro moaned.

"Because it'll be good for your health," Sakura said sweetly.

"I don't think I want to know what will happen if I don't go soft, so I might as well just adopt Kisshu," Shintaro sighed. "And I know that's what you were thinking, Sakura, so in order to keep my skin intact, I'll go along with it. But Ichigo still has to be home by eleven, got that?"

"Yes, I'll have her back by eleven," Kisshu said happily. "So now Pai can't curse me anymore if I'm living with you, right?"

"He would have to come here to do it, and ever since the 'bedroom window' incident, he's not exactly a welcome visitor," Ichigo said. "But he can come over if you get sick."

"Why's that, exactly?" Shintaro asked.

"I'm allergic to medicine," Kisshu said. "Pai's a healer, so if I get sick and need help, Ichigo has to call him."

"And I suppose those are times when I can't chase him with my baseball bat?" Shintaro sighed.

"Honey, your baseball bat is on its way to a landfill," Sakura said. "I threw it out after you broke my vase."

"YOU WHAT!?" Shintaro shouted.

"We'll be back in time for dinner," Kisshu said hurriedly, and teleported Ichigo outside.

"Yay! You get to live with us!" Ichigo said happily.

"I'm pretty shocked," Kisshu said. "But this is a good thing, right?"

"Yep!" Ichigo said happily. "I knew Dad would cave in eventually."

"I didn't," Kisshu said.

"I wonder where Ryou is," Ichigo said. "Maybe we should ask Keiichiro…"

"Let's go then, I want to get rid of Blondie before dinner," Kisshu said. He took her hand and teleported to Café Mew Mew's basement.

To their shock, they found Keiichiro tied up, and he looked panicked when he saw them. Kisshu and Ichigo started to run over, but someone grabbed Ichigo by the neck, choking her. "Ki-shy.." she choked out. Kisshu started to run back, but the person holding her stepped out of the shadows. Naturally, it was Ryou, and he said, "One step closer and she dies, Kisshu."

Kisshu stopped dead, helpless. "What are you planning?" he asked.

"To make you suffer," Ryou said. "You took Ichigo away, and now you're going to pay. I know she'll never love me, so I'm going to make you watch her die, and there's nothing you or she can do about it."

Ichigo, though she could barely breathe, had different ideas. With the last of her concentration, she POOFed into cat form, and sank her fangs into Ryou's arm. He howled in pain, and she let go, running to Kisshu and jumping onto his shoulder, gasping for air. Kisshu summoned his Dragon Swords, and snarled, "Ryou, you're going DOWN."

Ryou smirked and pulled out a gun. "What's that?" Kisshu asked, confused.

"It's a gun, and it's made for killing," Ryou said. "And your swords won't be much of a match."

"We'll see," Kisshu said, then teleported, kicked the gun out of Ryou's hand, and stabbed him in the neck.

Ryou wasn't quite finished, however. He brought a fist back, and punched Kisshu- or tried to. He got Kisshu on the shoulder, but then collapsed, having lost too much blood. Kisshu left him to bleed the rest of the way to death, and went to untie Keiichiro.

"Thanks, Kisshu," Keiichiro said when he was free. "Ryou's better off dead, obviously."

"Yeah," Kisshu said. He lifted Ichigo up and kissed her on the nose. POOF! When the smoke cleared, Ichigo was back. "Koneko-chan, are you okay?" Kisshu asked.

"I think so," Ichigo said. "What about you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kisshu said. "I think we should go home. It's almost six anyways."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "I am a bit tired."

Kisshu looked at her, and said, "You've got bruises on your throat, maybe we should go to Pai first."

"Okay…" Ichigo said.

Kisshu, worried, took her hand and teleported into Pai's lab, startling him, and causing him to yell, "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NOT TO COME IN HERE UNINVITED!?"

"Pai, Ryou tried to strangle Ichigo, I want you to see if she's okay," Kisshu said. "Aside from the bruises, I mean."

Pai sighed. "I hope you killed him," he muttered, and came over- just as Ichigo collapsed. Kisshu caught her, and Pai put a hand on her chest. "She was without air for too long," he said. "I'll heal that and the bruises, but she needs to rest after that." His hand began to glow, and after a minute, he moved it to her throat, and healed the bruises. "Go take her home," Pai said when he was done. "And keep her quiet for about a day. I'll be by tomorrow afternoon to check on her, so please inform Mr. Momomiya not to kill me on sight."

"Will do," Kisshu said, and teleported to Ichigo's room. He tucked her into bed and went downstairs.

"Where's Ichigo?" Sakura asked when he came into the kitchen.

"She's resting, Ryou tried to strangle her," Kisshu said. "Pai said we need to keep her quiet for about a day, and he'll be by tomorrow to check on her. Can you keep Shintaro from killing Pai?"

"Sure," Sakura said. "You go back to Ichigo, I'll bring food up for when she's awake."

"Thanks," Kisshu said, and went back upstairs to watch Ichigo.

**That's it for tonight, people. I'll try to post more tomorrow. Review plz!**


	13. Mint's Demise

**Kitten Love Chapter 13:**

**Mint's Demise**

Ichigo didn't wake up till the next morning, by which point Kisshu was starting to panic. Needless to say, he was very relieved when Ichigo opened her eyes around ten the next morning, and asked, "Kishy?"

"I'm right here, are you okay?" Kisshu asked.

"I think so," Ichigo said. She started to sit up, but Kisshu pushed her back down gently. In response to her puzzled look, he said, "Pai said you should take it easy till he gets here, k?"

"I guess," Ichigo said, settling back down. "Can I have something to eat?"

"Sure," Kisshu said. "I'll go see what there is, you stay here."

"Thanks, Kishy," Ichigo said.

Kisshu smiled at her and went downstairs. Sakura was just heading up the stairs, and Kisshu said, "Ichigo's up, is there something I should give her to eat?"

"I made some miso soup last night, do you know how to reheat that?" Sakura asked.

"If it involves one of those things with the tray inside that spins, then no," Kisshu said. "I don't really know how to work those things."

Sakura looked confused at first, then said, "Oh, you mean a microwave. I can show you how to use it. Come with me."

Kisshu followed her into the kitchen, and watched as she poured some soup into a ceramic bowl. "You can't put plastic or metal in the microwave, it'll explode," Sakura told him. "Glass and ceramics are okay, though."

"Okay," Kisshu said.

"Come on over," Sakura said. Kisshu obeyed, and Sakura said, "Okay, these buttons with numbers are for timing the food. For soup, I think about three minutes would be good. So press the three, and then the zero button twice."

Kisshu did so, and Sakura said, "Okay, now press the large button that says 'Start'." Kisshu obeyed, and jumped a little when the microwave started up. "Wait till it beeps, and then you can take it out," Sakura said. "It'll be pretty hot, so I'd suggest using pot holders to take it out. And I'll get a little tray so you can take it upstairs."

"Thanks, Sakura," Kisshu said. He looked back at the microwave, and got mesmerized watching it spin. He didn't notice Sakura was trying to get his attention till she waved a hand in front of his face, which caused him to jump back, startled.

"Sorry, but you weren't answering," Sakura said. "Why were you staring at the microwave?"

"I- don't know," Kisshu said. "I think I like watching the thing spin."

Sakura looked thoughtful. "Ichigo likes that too," she said. "I don't know why, though."

"Probably our cat genes," Kisshu grumbled. "I HATE having cat genes."

"You have cat genes now?" Sakura asked. "Does it have something to do with that dart?"

"Yup," Kisshu said. "According to Pai, now I can turn into a cat, and get the ears and tail in Cyniclon form. And Ichigo said I was purring."

"Purring is cute," Sakura said. "And look at it this way- now Ichigo's got someone like her to be with. It can't be easy knowing you're the only person with cat genes, and no one can understand you."

Kisshu perked up a bit, but then the microwave beeped, startling him- and causing his ears to change into cat ears and a tail to pop out. Kisshu groaned.

"Ichigo will like that," Sakura commented. "Take the soup up to her, k?"

"K," Kisshu said. He carefully took the tray up to Ichigo's room, well aware that he still had cat ears and a tail.

When he walked in, though, he nearly dropped the tray. Ichigo had fallen back to sleep- but now Mint was standing over her, holding a knife. "How the HELL did you get in here?" Kisshu shouted.

Mint jumped, having been so intent on killing Ichigo that she hadn't noticed Kisshu. Kisshu set the tray down on Ichigo's desk, and took out his swords. "I don't want to hurt you!" Mint said.

"Yeah? Well, I want to hurt YOU," Kisshu snarled. "You tried to kill Ichigo, you gave me cat genes- you're going down, whether you fight back or not!"

Before he could get around to killing Mint, though, Sakura came in, saying, "Kisshu, I heard-" she stopped dead when she saw Mint with a knife. "What's going on?" Sakura asked, scared.

"Mint somehow got in and tried to kill Ichigo," Kisshu said. "I assume you don't want me to kill her in the house?"

"Why don't we just call the police?" Sakura asked. "I don't want you to get in trouble, Kisshu."

Kisshu sighed. "Fine," he said. "I'll keep her here while you do that." Sakura ran out as Kisshu teleported and ripped the pendant off Mint's neck, crushing it. She went back to her human form as Kisshu threw the pieces of her pendant in the trash. That done, he noticed Ichigo was waking up- and Mint was trying to sneak over to the window. Kisshu teleported again, and knocked Mint out from behind. Then he went to Ichigo, and said, "Ichigo, are you okay?"

"Yeah, but what happened?" Ichigo asked. "And why do I have a headache?"

"I came up here and found Mint standing over you with a knife," Kisshu said. "I'm guessing she knocked you out. Your mom decided to call the police, so I knocked Mint out after destroying her pendant."

Ichigo sat up, looking scared. Kisshu noticed, and said, "If this solution doesn't work, I promise I'll kill her, but your mom didn't want me to get in trouble."

"It's fine, and I doubt her parents will be too happy with her if she goes to jail," Ichigo said. "But if the police are coming here, what do we do about your ears?"

"Say it's a costume?" Kisshu suggested.

"I guess," Ichigo said.

Sakura came back in and said, "They're here, I said I'd let you know before inviting them up."

"What about Kisshu's ears?" Ichigo asked.

"Cosplay," Sakura said. "You were getting ready for a cosplay party when this happened."

"K," Ichigo said. "Mint's unconscious over there." She pointed to Mint, who was still lying on the floor. Sakura went downstairs and came back with two police officers.

One of them went over to Mint as the other came over to Ichigo and Kisshu, and said, "What happened?"

"I came up here and found Ichigo unconscious and Mint standing over her with a knife," Kisshu said. "Mint didn't notice me and I startled her into dropping the knife. And then Sakura came up here and saw what was going on, and called you guys while I knocked Mint out. She was trying to sneak out the window."

"Do either of you know why she was trying to kill Ichigo?" the officer asked.

"She's jealous because Kisshu loves me and not her," Ichigo said. "I guess we underestimated her jealousy."

"Well, we'll take her in," the officer said.

"Thank you," Ichigo said.

The officer nodded, and his partner picked up Mint and carried her out. Sakura walked them out.

"Well, at least they didn't ask about my ears," Kisshu said.

"Yeah, that was good," Ichigo said.

They heard the doorbell ring, and Shintaro shout, "You'd better have a good reason for coming back!"

Then they heard Pai sigh, "Yes, Kisshu asked me to check on Ichigo, because Ryou tried to strangle her yesterday. And this time I didn't go to her window. Can I come in?"

"Fine, but any funny stuff, and you're doomed," Shintaro said. "And this time the doom will happen with a sword instead of a baseball bat."

"You'd have to get in line, Kisshu would doom me first," Pai said dryly. "May I come in?"

"Fine… I'm sure you know which room is Ichigo's…" Shintaro grumbled.

Ichigo and Kisshu heard a door close, and footsteps on the stairs. They were both giggling. A minute later, Pai came in and saw them giggling. "I suppose you heard all that?" he sighed.

"Yup," Kisshu said. "I didn't realize 'doom' was a verb."

Pai growled and said, "Ichigo, lie down, I'm going to see if you're fully recovered. And I would appreciate it if Kisshu would stop laughing at me!"

Kisshu attempted to contain himself while Pai put a hand on Ichigo's chest. A minute later, he said, "You're all set, Ichigo."

"Thanks," Ichigo said. "By the way, Kishy's about to explode, can you tell him he can start laughing again?"

Pai looked at Kisshu, who was trying to hold in the laughter, and said, "Kisshu, are you planning on laughing at me forever?"

Kisshu stopped trying not to laugh, and burst out laughing again. "Why you little…" Pai trailed off as he seemed to get an idea. Kisshu started to get a bit nervous when Pai stopped yelling, and his nervousness was well-placed, because Pai suddenly smirked at him and Ichigo. Now completely freaked out, Kisshu tried to hide behind Ichigo, who smirked at Pai and yelled, "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!"

The look on Pai's face turned to one of pure horror just as they heard running footsteps on the staircase. Two seconds later, Shintaro burst into the room with (what else?) a sword, and said, "WHAT'D HE DO!?"

"He totally freaked us out by smirking…" Ichigo said. "He had this little evil grin on his face!"

"NO SCARING MY DAUGHTER!" Shintaro screamed. "GET OUT!"

Pai squeaked and teleported out as Kisshu and Ichigo burst out laughing. "Nice one, Dad, I've never seen Pai that scared," Ichigo said.

"Yeah, way to go," Kisshu said.

Shintaro asked, "That was a set-up, wasn't it?"

"Pretty much," Ichigo admitted. "He did have this creepy smile, but it freaked Kishy out more than me, so I decided to freak Pai out. Boy, the look on his face when I called you was priceless."

"Where'd you get that sword?" Kisshu asked.

"I got it online after Ichigo was born, thinking I could protect her better if I had a sword- but then Sakura explained that carrying around a real sword was illegal, so I had to put it in the basement," Shintaro said. "But I took it out when Pai showed up. He'd better not come back anytime soon."

"I guess I'll try not to get sick for a while," Kisshu said.

"Well, if I turn into a cat, I could heal you," Ichigo said.

"Oh, that's right, you can heal in cat form," Kisshu said.

"Let's go with that," Shintaro said. "But still don't get sick anytime soon."

Kisshu grinned. "I'll do my best. I don't usually get sick," he said.

Shintaro nodded and headed out to put his sword away.

"What should we do now?" Ichigo asked.

"Make out?" Kisshu asked hopefully.

Ichigo grinned and kissed him. He immediately kissed back, and they stayed that way for a while, totally focused on each other.

Needless to say, they both got startled when Sakura knocked on the door. They broke apart, and Kisshu's cat features popped out. He groaned, but stopped when Ichigo reached out and started rubbing one of his ears. Then he leaned into her hand and started purring, as she asked, "Mom, what's up?"

"We decided we'd go out for dinner tonight," Sakura said. "Do you want to come?"

"Sure," Ichigo said. "Kishy?"

"I'd like that, let me just get one of Pai's little inventions to change my ears," Kisshu said. He teleported out, and returned about five minutes later with a bottle of pills. "Taking one of these will change my ears to human ears for the next ten hours," he said, noticing Ichigo's and Sakura's quizzical looks.

"That's pretty cool," Sakura said.

Kisshu smiled and went to get some water. He came back with human ears, and said, "Um… do I need different clothes?"

"I think it's a good idea," Sakura said. "We can go shopping another time; right now you can borrow some of Shintaro's. Come with me. Ichigo, start getting ready, it's a nice place, so no miniskirts."

"K," Ichigo said. When they were gone, she started picking out clothes.

**Next chapter, we see how well Kisshu does at a restaurant! Review and tell me what you think of this chapter first, though!**


	14. Out to Eat

**Kitten Love Chapter 14:**

**Out to Eat**

A little while later, Ichigo was ready. She was wearing a pair of black pants, pink flats, and a dark pink button-down shirt. She pulled her hair into a single ponytail, and put small gold hoops in her ears. When she opened her door, she noticed Kisshu coming out of the guest room, wearing black pants and a green shirt a few shades lighter than his hair. He had a different hairstyle, too. Instead of the usual two pigtails, his hair was pulled back into a short ponytail. To sum it all up, he was _hot_.

He looked at her and smiled. "You look beautiful, Koneko-chan," he said.

"You look amazing, Kishy," Ichigo said. Kisshu blushed slightly, then smirked. Ichigo noticed the smirk and said, "Let's go downstairs, I bet they're waiting."

Kisshu, still smirking, followed her downstairs. Sure enough, Sakura and Shintaro were waiting, and Sakura said, "You two look very nice."

"Thanks Mom," Ichigo said. "Where are we going?"

"The Italian place down the way," Shintaro said.

"Italian?" Kisshu asked.

"Food from Italy," Shintaro said. "It's really good. It's also really different from Japanese food. Do you know how to use forks and knives?"

"Yeah," Kisshu said. "We used both on our planet."

"Good," Shintaro said. "They don't have chopsticks at Italian restaurants."

"Let's go get in the car," Sakura said.

They all went out and got into Shintaro's car. Kisshu seemed kind of nervous, and Ichigo said, "You've never been in a car before, right Kisshu?"

"No, and it's kind of small in here," Kisshu said.

"It's not bad compared to Dad's last car," Ichigo said. "Just relax, it's not going to kill you."

"Okay," Kisshu said. He still jumped when Shintaro started the car, and Ichigo took his hand, which calmed him down somewhat. Luckily it wasn't a long drive, because Kisshu had already decided he hated cars.

As soon as Shintaro turned off the car, Kisshu got out. "Can I teleport home?" he asked plaintively. "That wasn't fun."

"Fine, but don't get seen," Shintaro said.

"Before we go in, Kisshu, do you have any other food allergies besides bananas?" Sakura asked.

"Not that I know of," Kisshu said.

"Okay," Sakura said.

They went into the restaurant, and the hostess asked, "Table for four?"

"Yes," Shintaro said.

"Okay, please follow me," the woman said, getting out four menus and leading them to a table near the middle of the dining area. They all sat down, and the woman said, "A server will be with you shortly."

"Thanks," Sakura said, and opened up her menu.

"Ichigo, are you getting the usual?" Shintaro asked.

"Actually I was going to get lasagna," Ichigo said.

"What's lasagna?" Kisshu asked.

"It's layers of meat and different cheeses and tomato sauce with pasta in between the layers," Ichigo said. "Then it's baked in the oven."

"That sounds good," Kisshu said.

"Why don't we both get that, then?" Ichigo suggested.

"Okay," Kisshu said.

"Do you want to get lemonade too?" Ichigo asked.

"What's that?" Kisshu asked.

"It's lemon juice with sugar, it's really good," Ichigo said.

"Okay," Kisshu said. "Let's get the same thing!"

Ichigo smiled, and then their server came over. "Do you want to start with some drinks, or are you ready to order?" she asked.

"I think we know what we want," Shintaro said. "Ichigo, why don't you and Kisshu go first?"

"Sure," Ichigo said, then turned to the waitress and said, "Can I have lasagna and a glass of lemonade, please?"

"Sure," the waitress said. She turned to Kisshu and asked, "And for you?"

"Same as Ichigo, please," Kisshu said.

The waitress wrote that down, and turned to Sakura, who ordered lobster ravioli and cream soda, and Shintaro ordered chicken parmesan and a glass of wine. "Do you want any appetizers?" the waitress asked.

Sakura looked at Shintaro, and said, "Can we have an order of the gorgonzola garlic bread?"

"Sure, I'll have all that out soon," the waitress said, and left.

"And now we wait," Ichigo said. "There's not too many people here tonight, that's good."

"Why is it good?" Kisshu asked.

"Because we should get our food faster, and I'm hungry," Shintaro said. "Do you have restaurants where you come from?"

"No," Kisshu said. "Earth is a lot nicer, and there's a lot more food here that on my planet. Pai, Taruto and I were pretty shocked by how much variety there is here. And we don't have any fruit, since the planet's basically a block of ice. That's why we all like fruit. I really like apples."

"Why apples?" Sakura asked.

"That was the first type of fruit I tried here," Kisshu said. "Pai likes peaches, and Taruto likes pears, but I like apples best. It's too bad I'm allergic to bananas; they taste good."

"I like apple desserts," Ichigo said. "Fresh apples aren't my favorite, though."

Kisshu grinned. "Yeah, your favorite is strawberries, right?" he asked.

Ichigo smiled. "You know me pretty well, don't you?" she asked.

"Yep," Kisshu said. "All that time in that tree outside your window was not wasted."

"What was that?" Shintaro asked sternly.

"I spent a lot of time in that tree outside Ichigo's window," Kisshu said. "Being close to her is calming for me, so whenever Pai started chewing me out for not killing the Mews again, I'd just go to the tree and sit there. It was usually at night, so I'd go to sleep in the tree from watching Ichigo sleep. And as long as she didn't see me and throw something at me, I could go back and deal with Pai's nagging for another day."

Before Shintaro could reply, their waitress came over with a platter of garlic bread covered in melted gorgonzola cheese. She set out small plates for them, and said, "The rest of your food will be out shortly."

"Thank you," Sakura said. The woman left as Sakura took a piece of the garlic bread. Shintaro and Ichigo did the same, and Kisshu looked at it a bit hesitantly before also taking a piece. He bit into it, and after swallowing, said, "That's an odd flavor, but it's kind of good."

"I really like it," Sakura said. "Ichigo does too, which is why we get it."

Kisshu looked at Ichigo, who was contentedly eating a piece of the garlic bread. She saw him looking and blushed. "I like it," she said.

Kisshu smiled. "It's pretty good," he said, finishing his piece.

Soon after their waitress came over with the rest of their food. Kisshu looked at his, and said, "This is a LOT."

"You can take home the parts you don't eat," Sakura said. "And try to save room for dessert, this place has really good chocolate mousse."

"Is there anything chocolate that isn't good?" Kisshu asked.

"Probably not, but what Sakura means is that this place does a really good job of making chocolate mousse, so it's better than at some other places," Shintaro said.

"Oh…" Kisshu said, picking up his fork. "This smells good."

"Tastes good too," Ichigo said. "It's really hot, so don't burn your tongue, k?"

"K," Kisshu said. He blew on some of it, and put it in his mouth. Then he winced, and Ichigo facepalmed. "Didn't I just tell you it was hot?" she asked.

Kisshu swallowed and said, "I thought blowing on it helped…"

"It does, but you still have to wait a bit before this stuff is actually cool enough to eat," Ichigo sighed. "Drink some lemonade, it'll help the burning."

Kisshu tried that, and it helped a little. "Lemonade is good," he said. "I like human food."

"Good, because if you want to stay with me, you'd have to get used to it anyways," Ichigo said.

"I want to stay with you forever," Kisshu said. He smiled when Ichigo blushed, and took another bite of lasagna. "Now it's cooler," he said. "It's really good."

"I'm glad you like it," Ichigo said. She was eating hers.

Eventually they all got full, and stopped. Ichigo still had a little less than half of what she started with, while Kisshu didn't have much left at all. "You didn't eat that much, Koneko-chan," Kisshu commented.

"Chocolate mousse is very filling, I'm saving room," Ichigo said. "And this can be lunch tomorrow."

"What exactly is chocolate mousse?" Kisshu asked.

"It's melted chocolate mixed with heavy cream and whipped up," Sakura said. "It's really good."

Ichigo giggled. "Kishy, you look like a puppy who's begging for table scraps," she said.

"It sounds good," Kisshu said defensively.

"Ichigo, stop teasing Kisshu," Sakura said. Ichigo pouted, and Kisshu chuckled.

Their waitress came back and asked, "Any desserts?"

"Can I have chocolate mousse?" Ichigo asked.

"You and Kisshu are sharing, those things are huge," Shintaro said. He looked at the waitress, and said, "I'll have tiramisu and a cup of coffee, please."

The waitress wrote this all down, and looked at Sakura. "I think I'll have a cannoli," she said.

"I'll be back with that soon," the woman said, and left.

Ten minutes later, she came back with a cannoli, a piece of tiramisu, a cup of coffee, and what looked like a small mixing bowl filled with chocolate mousse. She handed the desserts out, putting two spoons next to the mousse. "Here's the bill when you're ready, take your time," she said, handing the bill to Shintaro.

"Thanks," Shintaro said. The woman nodded and left.

"You were right, this IS huge," Kisshu said. "It looks good, too."

"Well, dig in," Ichigo said, taking a spoonful.

Kisshu did the same, and Ichigo watched as his face went from curious to blissfully happy. "I told you it was good," she told him.

"You were right," Kisshu said, taking another spoonful.

Sakura and Shintaro were finished a while later, and they watched as Ichigo told Kisshu, "Stop eating, you'll explode."

Kisshu looked at her. "How does that work?" he asked. "I don't think Cyniclons can explode. Is it a human thing? I didn't know humans exploded."

Ichigo sighed. "It's an expression," she explained. "It means you're going to be too full if you keep eating, and you'll most likely get a stomachache. And I don't think that's going to feel very good if you're planning on teleporting home."

"Fine…" Kisshu said, putting down his spoon.

"I left money and a tip for the waitress, so we should get going," Shintaro said. "I guess we'd better go somewhere that Kisshu can teleport without being seen."

"Let's get in the car, and then Kisshu can teleport out," Sakura said.

"I guess," Kisshu said. They all got up, and went back to the car. Kisshu got in with them, then looked around, and teleported out. Shintaro drove Sakura and Ichigo home, and they went in.

The living room was deserted, and Ichigo called, "Kishy?"

No response. "Maybe he got sick from eating so much," Sakura said. "Go see, k?"

Ichigo ran upstairs, and found the bathroom door closed. "Kishy?" she called.

"My stomach feels awful…" Kisshu said.

Ichigo sighed. "I guess you ate too much," she said. She heard a gulp, and then Kisshu started throwing up.

Sakura came up a few minutes later, and said, "He ate too much?"

"Guess so," Ichigo said.

"Poor guy, that doesn't sound good," Sakura said, as they heard Kisshu cough, then throw up again.

Finally it sounded like he was done, and Ichigo knocked, saying, "Are you feeling any better?"

"My stomach feels a little better," Kisshu said.

"I think you should go to bed," Sakura said. "Maybe you'll feel better tomorrow."

Kisshu flushed the toilet, then came out of the bathroom. Sakura put a hand on his forehead, and said, "Well, the good news is that you don't have a fever. Do you want me to put a bucket in your room just in case?"

"Might be a good idea," Kisshu said. "I'm sorry."

Sakura smiled. "It's fine," she said. "Ichigo can go find you some pajamas, I'll go find a bucket."

Kisshu nodded tiredly, and Ichigo took his hand, pulling him into her room. She turned on the light and pulled out a pair of black pajama pants and a blue shirt. "Here, you can have these," she told Kisshu, who was half-asleep already. "Go back to your room to change, k?"

"K…." Kisshu said. Ichigo helped him up and back to his room, where they found Sakura putting a bucket next to the bed. "You're all set," she told Kisshu. "Get to bed, you look exhausted."

Kisshu just nodded, so Ichigo kissed his cheek and left with her mother.

**Bad chapter ending, I know. Plz review anyways. And don't flame me.**


	15. Shopping

**Kitten Love Chapter 15:**

**Shopping**

The next day, Kisshu was feeling better, but wasn't really hungry. Later in the day, Sakura took him and Ichigo aside, and said, "Kisshu, now that you're living here, I'm going to sign you up for school, k?"

Kisshu looked nervous, and said, "Would I still get to be with Ichigo?"

Sakura smiled. "I'll call the school and explain that you've been homeschooled, and that you should have Ichigo in all your classes," she said. "She can show you around."

"Okay," Kisshu said.

"What's your last name? The school will need that for their attendance records," Sakura said.

"Ikisatashi," Kisshu said.

"Okay, I'll go sign you up, and explain the situation," Sakura said. "I'll get you a uniform too, but I think we need to go shopping for human clothes."

"Okay," Kisshu said. "I guess my clothes won't blend in too well."

"Not so much," Ichigo said.

Kisshu sighed. "Do you think I should start wearing my hair like I did last night?" he asked.

"It's up to you," Ichigo said. "Personally, I think it makes you look really hot, but you can still wear the pigtails if you want."

"You think the ponytail is hot?" Kisshu asked.

"Yep," Ichigo said with a smile. "Not that you weren't hot before-" she squeaked and covered her mouth.

"Finally admitted it?" Kisshu asked, smirking.

"Ehehe…" Ichigo said nervously.

"It's fine, I promise not to get big-headed," Kisshu said.

Ichigo giggled, then said, "Mom, when are we going shopping?"

"After I call your school," Sakura said. "I'll come let you know, you two have fun."

"We will!" Ichigo said, and dragged Kisshu back to her room.

"Why the enthusiasm, Koneko-chan?" Kisshu asked.

"I want to have a tickle war!" Ichigo said happily.

Kisshu groaned. "I hate tickle wars…." he moaned. "I lose every time!"

"What do you want to do, then?" Ichigo asked.

Kisshu smirked, and said, "What do you think?"

"Don't you ever get tired of kissing me?" Ichigo asked.

"Nope!" Kisshu said happily. "You're good at it, so I will never get tired of kissing you."

Ichigo smiled, and kissed him. He kissed her back, focusing only on her, and not his surroundings. This turned out to be a bad thing, because Shintaro knocked on the door, and Kisshu's cat features popped out. Shintaro started laughing as Kisshu broke off the kiss with Ichigo. "I HATE cat genes," Kisshu muttered.

Ichigo smiled slightly and reached up, rubbing Kisshu's ears gently. He started purring, and Ichigo said, "But doesn't this feel nice?"

Kisshu leaned into her hand, calmer now, and said, "Yeah…."

Kisshu continued purring as Ichigo asked, "Dad, what's up?"

"Your mom wants to take you and Kisshu shopping," Shintaro said. "She sent me to get you. And she says Kisshu might want to take one of those pill things."

"Okay, we'll be right down," Ichigo said. She gently took her hands away from Kisshu's ears, and they turned back into Cyniclon ears, while his tail disappeared. "Kishy, you should go get one of the pills," Ichigo said as Kisshu stopped purring. "And I think we need to work on controlling the cat ears."

"You can control whether they come out or not?" Kisshu asked.

"Sometimes," Ichigo said. "If you're really startled, it's inevitable, but if you're only mildly startled, it's possible to keep them under control. But right now, Mom's waiting, so we'll work on it later. Go get one of your pills, and let's go."

Kisshu went to his room, and came back five minutes later with human ears. "Ready?" he asked.

"Yup," Ichigo said. They went downstairs, and Sakura looked up from putting her shoes on. "Oh good, you're ready," she said. "Let's go get in the car."

Kisshu flinched. "I hate cars…" he said.

Sakura sighed. "I know, but it's the only way we're going to get there," she said. "There's too many people there for you to teleport."

Kisshu sighed, but followed Sakura and Ichigo to the car anyways. "You can teleport home," Sakura said. "It's about a fifteen minute drive to the mall, k?"

"Yuck," Kisshu grumbled.

"I'll sit with you," Ichigo said.

"Fine…" Kisshu sighed. He got in the car, and Ichigo sat down next to him. They both strapped in, and Ichigo said, "Maybe closing your eyes will help."

Kisshu closed his eyes, and leaned his head on Ichigo's shoulder. She started stroking his hair, since that usually calmed her down. She figured it would work for Kisshu, and she was right. Even when Sakura started up the car, Kisshu stayed relaxed as long as Ichigo was stroking his hair.

Unfortunately, by the time they got to the mall, Kisshu was fast asleep. Ichigo smiled softly, and shook Kisshu, saying, "We're here. Time to wake up, Kishy."

Kisshu stirred, then opened his eyes, yawning. "We're here?" he asked.

"Yup," Ichigo said. "We can get out of the car now. I guess you can handle being in a car if you're sleeping."

"I guess," Kisshu said. He undid his seatbelt and got out. Ichigo and Sakura came and joined him, and they walked into the mall together. Sakura led them to a clothing store and went to the men's department. "Kisshu, I think you're smaller than Shintaro," Sakura said. "Let's look for size 8 clothes, k?"

"K, can we get black and green?" Kisshu asked.

"Sure," Sakura said. "Those are your favorite colors?"

"Yup," Kisshu said.

They started looking, and soon had a bunch of jeans, pants and shirts. Sakura also got some sweatshirts, and then they went to look at shoes.

"Why can't I keep my boots?" Kisshu asked.

"You can, but the school doesn't allow boots, you need different shoes for school," Sakura explained. "And you need a uniform for school, you can't wear normal clothes."

Kisshu didn't look very happy with this. Ichigo noticed and said, "You get used to it, it's not that bad."

Kisshu sighed. Ichigo ruffled his hair, and said "Let's go get you some shoes, and then we can go."

"K," Kisshu said.

They eventually found a pair of school-appropriate shoes, and then went to buy everything.

"Thanks for doing all this, Sakura," Kisshu said as they were leaving.

"Sure Kisshu," Sakura said. She looked over at a bench and said, "Why don't you two wait there, I need a few more things at another store, and I'm going to put the bags in the car."

"Okay," Kisshu said. "You don't need help?"

"No, I'll be fine," Sakura said. "And I'm pretty sure you wouldn't like the store I'm going to, it's all make-up."

"You're probably right," Kisshu said. "Okay, we'll wait, right Koneko-chan?"

Ichigo wasn't really paying attention. She was looking over at two girls, until Kisshu tapped her shoulder. "Friends of yours?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Ichigo said- just as one of the girls spotted them and called out, "Ichigo!"

"Hi Miwa, hi Moe!" Ichigo called as the two girls ran over.

"I'll give you all some time," Sakura said.

"Thanks Mrs. Momomiya," Miwa said. Sakura smiled and left.

Ichigo smiled at her friends, and then said to Kisshu, "Kisshu, this is Moe and Miwa, we've been friends forever. Guys, this is Kisshu, my boyfriend."

"It's nice to meet you," Kisshu said.

"You too," Moe said. "How'd you meet Ichigo?"

"We met at Café Mew Mew," Ichigo said. "Before it closed down, I mean."

"It closed? Why?" Miwa asked.

"The evil owner disappeared," Ichigo said. "Good riddance, he was ten times more evil than Aoyama was when he dumped me."

"Did you hear Aoyama disappeared?" Miwa asked.

"No, really?" Ichigo said.

"Yeah, and we actually got questioned, cause someone told the police they saw us beating that jerk up after he dumped you," Moe said.

"You think he's a jerk too?" Kisshu asked.

"ANYONE who hurts Ichigo is a jerk," Miwa said. "And jerks get beaten to a pulp by us, so if I was you, I'd watch out."

"Kishy would never hurt me," Ichigo said, noticing Kisshu looked a bit disgruntled with the suggestion that he would hurt Ichigo.

Moe giggled. "That's a cute nickname, Ichigo," she said. "Kisshu, do you have a nickname for Ichigo?"

"Yeah, I call her Koneko-chan," Kisshu said. "She's my kitten."

"Kittens are delicate," Miwa said.

Kisshu smiled. "I know. I'm careful with this one. Kittens also have claws. I don't want to get clawed."

"Good," Moe said. "So what school do you go to?"

"Ichigo's," Kisshu said. "I've been homeschooled, but after Ichigo's family adopted me, Sakura said I should go to a public school."

Moe and Miwa's jaws dropped. "How on _Earth _did you get your dad to agree to this?" Miwa asked.

"He finally went soft," Ichigo said. "He said something about keeping his skin intact, and agreed to adopt Kishy. Just one rule- we can't sleep together. Kishy's got his own room."

"He didn't challenge Kisshu to a kendo match?" Moe asked.

"Nope," Ichigo said. "Mom softened him up by inviting Kishy for dinner over every night for about two weeks, and then said it was time to go soft, and Dad actually agreed to it."

"Wow, are you sure he's not a clone or something?"

"Positive," Ichigo said. "Kishy's older brother gets chased with a weapon every time he comes over, so Dad can't be a clone. Mom got rid of Dad's baseball bat, but little did I know, Dad keeps a sword in the basement."

"A SWORD!?" Moe asked incredulously.

"Yup," Ichigo said.

"So Kisshu, what'd your older brother do to make Mr. Momomiya hate him?" Miwa asked.

"He thought Shintaro would kill him if he rang the doorbell, so he tried to get in through Ichigo's window," Kisshu said.

Moe and Miwa looked horrified. "I'm surprised he's not missing a limb or something," Miwa said. "Why did he even come to your house, Ichigo?"

"He was looking for Kisshu, who spent the night at my house without telling Pai," Ichigo said.

"Um… why didn't you tell Pai?" Moe asked.

"I made him laugh that night, so I was avoiding him," Kisshu said. "That's the reason I spent the night at Ichigo's house, Pai's laugh is cursed."

"Pai's laugh is cursed?" Miwa asked.

"Yeah, he almost never laughs or smiles, but when he laughs, something horrific happens to whoever made him laugh," Kisshu said. "My best friend made him laugh, and two hours later, he was dead!"

Moe and Miwa looked horrified. "What happened?" Miwa asked in a hushed voice.

"You really don't want to know," Kisshu said. "Let's just say it was NOT pretty."

"Uh… Pai's not coming to our school, is he?" Moe asked.

"Not that I know of," Kisshu said.

"I still don't think Pai had anything to do with your friend's death," Ichigo said. "Especially since you didn't get doomed after making him laugh."

"Yeah, but you almost got doomed, and since you're the most important person in my life, it's even worse," Kisshu said.

Ichigo blushed as Miwa asked, "How did Ichigo almost get doomed?"

"Her coworker Mint somehow got into her room, and tried to kill her because she was jealous that I loved Ichigo and not her," Kisshu said. "Sakura called the police after I knocked Mint out."

Miwa and Moe looked horrified. "Ichigo, are you okay?" Miwa asked.

"Yeah, Kisshu got there before she could hurt me," Ichigo said.

"Good," Miwa said with relief. "Otherwise we'd have to kill Mint."

"You two wouldn't really kill someone, would you?" Ichigo asked.

Miwa shrugged. "Depends on how badly they hurt you," she said. "If they hurt you emotionally, that's one thing, but anything more than a bruise warrants at the very least a death threat sent to their house."

Ichigo sighed. "I really appreciate how much you two care about me, but at least TRY not to end up in jail like Mint," she said. "I'd be really sad if you got sent to jail because of me."

Moe and Miwa looked at Ichigo and said together, "We'll be careful."

Ichigo smiled and hugged them together.

Sakura walked up soon after, and said, "Ichigo, Kisshu, it's time to go home. Moe, Miwa, it was nice to see you."

"Thanks Mrs. Momomiya," Miwa said. "See you two at school!"

"Bye," Ichigo and Kisshu said. Then they followed Sakura back to the car. They all got in, and Sakura said, "I need to go to the grocery store, do you two want to come?"

"Not really," Ichigo said.

"I'll pass too," Kisshu said. "I can teleport Ichigo home, so have fun."

"Okay, thanks Kisshu," Sakura said with a smile.

Kisshu smiled back, then took Ichigo's hand and teleported back to their house.

**I know I only got one chapter out today, but hey, it's pretty long. Please review!**


	16. School

**Kitten Love Chapter 16:**

**School**

The rest of the summer flew by, and soon Ichigo and Kisshu were getting ready to go to school. "We don't have to go in a car, do we?" Kisshu asked Ichigo warily.

"No, we walk," Ichigo said. "And we should get going, we don't want to be late."

Kisshu sighed, and put on his new shoes. "I don't like these things," he said.

"Sorry, but it's required," Ichigo said. "You can change back when we get home."

Kisshu just sighed again and walked out the door. He had taken to wearing his hair in one ponytail, mainly because Ichigo had told him he looked hot.

Ichigo followed Kisshu out the door, and took his hand as they walked, calming him down. "I'm sure you'll manage," she told him as they walked. "I bet Moe and Miwa will help too."

"Okay," Kisshu said.

They reached the schoolyard in time, and Ichigo took Kisshu to the office to check in. Then they went up to the classroom, and sat down as the rest of the class filed in. Moe and Miwa noticed them, and came over to sit with them. "Hey, how was the rest of your summer?" Miwa asked.

"It was fine," Ichigo said. "Nothing special. How about you guys?"

"I just got back from Okinawa," Miwa said. "It was fun."

"I stayed home and spent all my time outside," Moe said. "I did take a few day trips to the beach, though. And I got some shopping done. I'll have to show you this really cute skirt I bought."

"Cool," Ichigo said.

The teacher came in and said, "Okay, we have a new student this year, and I'd like you to meet Ikisatashi Kisshu. Kisshu, will you stand up so everyone can see you?"

Kisshu obeyed, then sat back down when the teacher nodded. "All right, I'll be coming around to collect your summer homework, so please take it out," the teacher said. Everyone except Kisshu started getting their homework out, and the teacher started collecting it. That done, she started the lesson, which was Japanese history. Ichigo was a bit worried that Kisshu would have trouble with that, but he seemed to be doing fine. They both finished before the bell, and handed their papers in. The teacher looked over their papers, and said, "Good work, both of you."

"Thanks, Sensei," Ichigo said.

Soon after, the bell rang, and they headed to Math. The classes up till recess were fairly uneventful, but Ichigo noticed a lot of girls staring at Kisshu dreamily. _I bet recess will be tough, _she thought.

Moe and Miwa seemed to notice the girls as well, because on their way to recess, Miwa said, "Things are starting to heat up."

"I noticed," Ichigo said. "Should we eat inside?"

"Let's see how it goes outside, and if it gets too bad, we find a deserted classroom," Miwa said.

"Um… what's going on?" Kisshu asked.

The three girls looked at him in disbelief. "You honestly didn't notice that just about every girl in the class was looking at you dreamily?" Moe asked.

"Not really, I was paying attention to my work," Kisshu said. "Besides, why would I look at any girl besides Ichigo?"

Moe and Miwa were momentarily speechless, then Moe said, "Uh… never mind."

"Let's go eat," Ichigo said, noticing Kisshu was still puzzled. She took his hand, and led him outside, followed by Moe and Miwa. They were halfway to a shady tree when a guy came up to them and said, "Ichigo, why did you kill Aoyama?"

Ichigo looked puzzled. "I didn't, where'd you hear that?" she asked.

"Um… the captain of the kendo team is telling everyone that you killed Aoyama," the boy said.

"WHERE IS HE!?" Moe and Miwa shouted.

The boy flinched and said nervously, "The cafeteria, but PLEASE don't tell him I told you."

Moe and Miwa didn't respond, instead they headed for the cafeteria like hungry wolves who smelled prey. As soon as they went inside, the boy said, "I'm doomed…."

"Actually, he's doomed," Ichigo said. "Don't go in there, it will NOT be pretty."

"I think I'll just go hide under the bleachers, in case your overprotective friends decide to shoot the messenger," the boy said, and hightailed it out of the schoolyard.

Kisshu looked really confused. "Can you explain this to me?" he asked.

"Moe and Miwa are currently beating up the captain of the kendo team for telling people that I killed Aoyama," Ichigo said. "And they'll probably get suspended again. Any time anyone says something nasty about me, they go off to beat the person who said whatever it was to a pulp." She cringed as screams for mercy came from the direction of the cafeteria. "Whatever you do, DO NOT get between them and someone who hurts me," Ichigo said. "I don't want you to get hurt. The last person who tried that ended up with a broken nose. It's better to just sit back and hope they don't kill the person by accident."

"Can I help them?" Kisshu asked.

"No, because A. Dad will kill you if you get suspended, and B. Moe and Miwa will see it as you thinking they're not capable of beating someone up," Ichigo said. "And then they'll beat you up for thinking they're weak. Just let them be when they're in 'destroy' mode."

Kisshu sighed, and looked longingly at the building, just as someone screamed, "I'll never say another nasty thing about Momomiya-san again! Just let me live!"

"Sounds pretty bad in there," Kisshu said.

"Yep," Ichigo said, as the door opened, and Moe and Miwa dragged a very battered-looking boy out, then threw him in Ichigo's direction. The boy got up, and then bowed to Ichigo. "Momomiya-san, I'm very sorry I told people you killed Aoyama," he said. "Can you call your friends off now?"

"I didn't call them on, they heard it was you and went off to beat you up before I could say a word," Ichigo said. "Just don't do it again."

The boy shuddered. "I promise," he said. "Can I go hide in the restrooms now?"

Ichigo sighed. "Fine…." she said.

The boy bowed again and limped off as fast as he could, giving Moe and Miwa a wide berth. They glared at his retreating back as they came over. "That's taken care of," Miwa said, satisfied.

"You two are amazing," Kisshu said.

"Thanks," Moe said, blushing slightly.

"So how long this time?" Ichigo asked. "I'm glad you got him to apologize, though."

"We didn't get suspended yet, there weren't any teachers around, and the lunch lady hid when she saw us," Miwa said. "Where was Hayate going, anyways?"

"Apparently he wants to hide in the restrooms, which is the one place he knows you can't get him," Ichigo said.

"Koneko-chan, that guy doesn't look very happy," Kisshu said.

Ichigo looked, and groaned. "Already?" she moaned. "He's getting quick for someone in his fifties."

"Who is he?" Kisshu asked.

"The principal," Ichigo sighed.

The principal came up to them, and looked at Moe and Miwa. "What was the reason this time?" he asked wearily.

"Hayate was telling everyone who would listen that Ichigo killed Aoyama," Moe said, shrugging. "He deserved it. Besides, we didn't beat up his friends this time."

"You two are the most overprotective people I've ever met," the principal sighed. "Do you have any clue why Hayate would think that Ichigo would kill Aoyama?"

"Beats us," Moe said. "You'd think he'd be saying that about us, we actually got questioned after his disappearance by the police; someone saw us beating him up after he broke Ichigo's heart, and I guess they told the police."

The principal rubbed his forehead. "Do you have to beat everyone who insults Ichigo up?" he asked.

Moe and Miwa looked innocent. "Aren't you happy that we didn't send out that death threat we made to Aoyama's house?" Miwa asked. "We've actually been going easy on the guys. I guess we're going soft."

"Okay, now you're scaring me," the principal said. "You were going to send Aoyama a _death threat_!?"

"Yup, he broke Ichigo's heart, so if he hadn't disappeared, we would have at the very least tried to make him afraid of his own shadow," Miwa said. "We're being nice to Kisshu because he's proved to us that he'll never do what Aoyama did. Are we suspended again?"

The principal sighed. "Since it's the first day, I'll let you off easy," he said. "But no death threats, are we clear?"

"Yes sir," Miwa said. "We'll try to tone it down- at least until the next idiot insults Ichigo."

"Great…." the principal said, then walked away muttering something that sounded like, "My school is doomed…."

Moe and Miwa hi-fived each other. "Yes! Now we won't get grounded," Moe said. "Hey, we could go out for ice cream after school!"

"That sounds nice," Ichigo said. "Can Kisshu and I come?"

"Sure," Moe said. "I think we're all going to be hungry, we kind of skipped lunch. The bell's going to ring."

Ichigo sighed. "Oh well," she said. "I guess we'll survive."

The bell rang, and they headed off to Biology. The teacher handed out a worksheet, and Ichigo, Kisshu, Moe and Miwa immediately got to work. The boys in the class pretty much did the same.

The girls, on the other hand, were staring dreamily at Kisshu, who was trying to work. Not easy when people are staring at you and trying to pass you notes. Once he was on the verge of snapping, Kisshu sighed and raised his hand. The teacher looked up. "Yes Kisshu?" he asked.

"May I be excused?" Kisshu asked.

"Why?" the teacher asked.

"People keep throwing paper at me, and I can't concentrate," Kisshu said.

The teacher stood up, and everyone started looking nervous. "Kisshu, give me the papers that have been thrown at you," the teacher said sternly.

Kisshu picked up about fifteen folded pieces of paper, and handed them over. Ichigo, Moe and Miwa noticed all the girls looking nervous, as the teacher opened the first paper, and said, "Just as I thought. These are all love letters." He looked at the first paper, and read, "Dear Kisshu-kun, I would love it if you would eat lunch with me tomorrow. Signed, Ginju Aida."

The class turned and looked at a girl whose face was now redder than a tomato. The teacher looked up. "Anyone else want to have their little confessions read out loud?" he asked. "Or are you going to leave Kisshu alone?" No one responded, and the teacher sighed. "Alright, I believe that fifteen people will be in detention for a week for disturbing my class, and I will open and read these letters to find out who's going to be in detention. Kisshu, I appreciate you bringing this issue up, people's grades will be dropping if they keep this up. The bell's about to ring, so you may all pack up, and those of you who decided to ignore the school's no notes rule will be informed of their punishments as soon as I tally up the total."

The class started packing up their bags. The bell rang, and everyone headed out. The boys were giving Kisshu some rather nasty looks, but he seemed to be ignoring them- at least until this huge guy tapped him on the shoulder. "What do you want?" Kisshu sighed without turning around.

"You humiliated my girlfriend, and now you're gonna pay," the guy said.

"You mean the girl who wrote the really sappy lunch invitation?" Kisshu asked. "It's not my fault she got humiliated. She brought it on herself."

The guy growled, and grabbed Kisshu's arm, spinning him around while bringing a fist back. Kisshu caught his punch one-handed, and pushed it back. The guy stumbled, shocked, and Kisshu asked, "Can I go to class, or do I need to beat you up?"

The guy was too shocked by Kisshu pushing his punch back to respond, and Kisshu turned and walked to the next class with Ichigo, Moe and Miwa, leaving the guy in shock.

Unfortunately, the shock had worn off soon after Kisshu left, and as the four walked out of school, they were met by a group of guys led by the guy Kisshu had met earlier. "What do you want now?" Kisshu asked.

"You're going down, punk," the guy from earlier said.

"So you had to get others just to beat me?" Kisshu asked. "Pathetic."

The guy nodded to his friends, who launched themselves at Kisshu. Kisshu leaped into the air and backflipped over their heads, landing behind the guys. Ichigo, Moe and Miwa stuck their feet out, tripping the guys. Unfortunately, this only made them madder, and they took out switchblades.

"Ichigo, go get the principal, we'll help Kisshu," Miwa whispered. Then she and Moe shifted position till Ichigo could get away unseen. Ichigo ran straight to the office, and knocked on the principal's door. "Come in," she heard. She opened the door, and said, "Kisshu, Moe and Miwa are being attacked with some guys with switchblades, and yes, they go to this school. Can you stop them?"

"Hai," the principal said. He turned to the receptionist and said, "Call the police, now." As soon as she nodded, the principal ran out, followed by Ichigo.

When they reached the front of the school, the situation was worse. Moe and Miwa were standing in front of Kisshu, who was clutching his shoulder. Both Moe and Miwa also had small slits in the fabric of their clothing. Ichigo ran to Kisshu as the principal shouted, "STOP!"

The guys turned to him, and looked nervous. "I hope you know what you're doing is illegal," the principal said. "Put those switchblades down immediately- unless you'd like the police to take them away by force. I don't know what brought this on, but you are all in deep trouble, and I'm going to have the police call your parents."

They heard sirens, and five police cars pulled into the schoolyard. Police officer started running over as the principal went to Kisshu and Ichigo.

Ichigo was holding Kisshu up; the stab wound in his shoulder was still bleeding. "Kisshu, let me see," the principal said. Kisshu took his hand away from his shoulder, revealing a pretty deep gash. "I think this needs stitches," the principal said. He turned to Ichigo. "Call your house, and tell whoever's there to come here," he said.

Ichigo got out her cell phone, and dialed her home number. As soon as Sakura picked up, Ichigo said, "Mom, Kisshu got stabbed by one of the guys at school, I need you here now."

"_On my way," _Sakura said, and hung up. Ichigo helped Kisshu sit back against the wall. Five minutes later Sakura pulled up and got out of the car. The police were starting to leave, taking Kisshu's attackers with them. Sakura ran over and knelt next to Kisshu and Ichigo. "Kisshu, can you stand?" she asked. "We need to get you some help."

"Not really, I'm too dizzy," Kisshu said.

"We'll help you, k?" Sakura said gently. Ichigo, getting the idea, slung Kisshu's uninjured arm over her shoulders, and Sakura helped them both up. Between them, they got Kisshu in the car, and Ichigo started stroking his hair, noticing he was getting nervous again. Sakura drove them home, and helped Ichigo get Kisshu inside. Pai was there, and he came over as they came in. "Let's go upstairs," he said. He picked up Kisshu, and Ichigo led the way upstairs. "Ichigo, your room has more light, can we go there?" he asked.

"Of course," Ichigo said. Pai went into her room and set Kisshu down on the bed. "Kisshu, can you take your shirt off?" Pai asked. Kisshu did so, wincing, and Pai looked at his injury. "This isn't good, I need to clean it out," he said.

Sakura ran to the bathroom and came back with a washcloth and a bottle of alcohol. Pai took them and started cleaning the wound. When he was finished, he put a hand on Kisshu's shoulder, which was still bleeding a bit. His hand began to glow, and the wound started to heal. Finally the skin closed, and Pai sighed. "Kisshu, you lost a lot of blood," he said. "You're going to need to rest for a while."

"How long is 'a while'?" Kisshu asked.

"At least two days," Pai said. "That means no school, and absolutely no teleporting or flying. I'll be by to check on you, but as you're aware, I can't stay here."

Kisshu groaned. "I hate lying in bed," he said.

"I'm aware of that, but I don't think you could get up even if you wanted to right now," Pai said. "And don't try it."

Kisshu sighed. "Does the fact that I can't get up mean that Ichigo can sleep with me?" he asked.

"Nice try, I'll take you back to the guest room," Pai said. "And you need to go to sleep soon."

"Fine…." Kisshu said.

Pai picked him up again, and carried him to the guest room, then tucked him into his bed. He fell asleep pretty quickly, and Pai told Ichigo, "Stay with him, he'll be more comfortable that way."

"K," Ichigo said.

Pai nodded and teleported out.

**Kisshu doesn't always do well at school, does he? Review, and please don't flame.**


	17. Nightmares and Secrets

**Kitten Love Chapter 17:**

**Nightmares and Secrets**

Kisshu slept through the rest of the day and night, and didn't wake up till the next morning, by which point Sakura had told the school he wouldn't be back for at least two days. Unfortunately for both of them, Sakura insisted that Ichigo go to school, so she couldn't stay with him.

This idea did not last long. Halfway through the day, Ichigo got called to the office, and found her father waiting for her. Before she could say anything, Shintaro said, "Kisshu's not doing too well, and we can't wake him up. You need to come home."

"I told you I shouldn't leave him," Ichigo sighed. "Let's go, then." She and Shintaro left the school and got in the car, then went home. As soon as Shintaro parked, Ichigo jumped out and ran into the house, then up to Kisshu's room. She wasn't even halfway up the stairs when she heard Kisshu scream. She ran to his room, and over to the bed. Kisshu was sound asleep, and Sakura was trying to wake him up. "I think he's having a nightmare, but I can't wake him up," Sakura said.

Ichigo came over and shook Kisshu. "Kishy, WAKE UP!" she cried out. No response. Ichigo handed her cell phone to Sakura and said, "Call Pai." Then she went back to trying to wake up Kisshu, who wasn't responding at all.

Five minutes of trying later, Pai teleported in, and said, "Move over." Ichigo immediately did so, and Pai tapped Kisshu's forehead.

Kisshu started to wake up, but he looked really scared. "Kishy, what did you see?" Ichigo asked gently, sitting down next to him.

"Y-you were dead," Kisshu said shakily. "A guy who looked like the Blue Knight, but dressed in red, he killed you, and I couldn't stop him for some reason. I was feeling really weak, and I couldn't stop him!"

"Kishy, it was just a nightmare, I'm fine," Ichigo said. She hugged him, and he buried his face in her shoulder, hugging back.

When he was a little calmer, he took his face out of Ichigo's shoulder. "Now I don't want to sleep," he said.

"I'll be here," Ichigo said. She turned to Sakura and said, "Mom, I don't think it's a good idea for me to leave Kishy until he's better."

Sakura sighed. "I suppose you're right," she said. "I'll go call the school." She left, and Ichigo turned back to Kisshu, who still looked scared.

"Kishy, it'll be fine," Ichigo said. "I'm not going to die, k?"

"Promise?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo smiled. "I promise," she said. "Aside from the nightmares, how are you feeling?"

"I can sit up, but I don't think I can walk," Kisshu said. "I think the blood loss really got to me."

Pai put a hand on Kisshu's chest, then said, "You're recovering, but you're right, you won't be able to walk until tomorrow at the earliest. You'll have to stay in bed, okay?"

Kisshu sighed. "I wish I could have taken out my swords," he said. "That would have made things a lot easier."

Ichigo smoothed his hair back as she said, "You would have been in trouble too, that's illegal. It's good that you didn't get in trouble with the police."

"I guess," Kisshu said.

"How did you get such a deep gash anyways?" Pai asked. "You usually dodge better than that."

"The guy was aiming for Moe, not me," Kisshu said. "I wasn't able to push her out of the way and dodge at the same time."

"Well, at least you saved her, and you'll heal," Ichigo said. "And I'll be with you, k?"

"K," Kisshu said.

They heard the doorbell ring, and Sakura answer, saying, "Hi Moe, hi Miwa, what's up?"

"We came to see Kisshu," Moe said.

"Let me see if he's awake," Sakura said.

They heard footsteps on the stairs, and Sakura came in, and then looked worried. "Are you planning on telling them the truth?" she asked.

Ichigo and Kisshu looked at each other. Pai sighed and said, "You might as well, those pills aren't good for Kisshu right now. And it's not going to be easy to lie about why Kisshu's ears look different today."

The two sighed. "Alright," Kisshu said. "Sakura, can you stay?"

"Sure," Sakura said. "I'll go get them." She left and came back with Moe and Miwa, who stopped dead when they saw Kisshu and Pai.

Ichigo sighed. "We've got something to tell you," she said. "Kisshu's an alien, and I'm Mew Ichigo."

Miwa and Moe looked shocked. "Why didn't you tell us?" Miwa whispered.

"At first it was because we were still fighting, but after that, for one thing, I didn't see much of you, and for another, I wasn't sure how you'd react to finding out your friend is now half cat," Ichigo said. "I guess I didn't want you to think I was a freak."

"We would never think of you as a freak," Miwa said. "But you're right, we didn't see each other much this summer, and I assume that you didn't want to say this over the phone?"

"No," Ichigo said. "And it's really important that you keep this a secret from everyone, k?"

"We understand," Moe said. "We won't tell anyone."

"Thanks," Ichigo said. She hugged her friends together, and they hugged back.

When they broke apart, Moe turned to Kisshu and said, "Kisshu, how are you feeling?"

"I'm a little better, but I can't walk," Kisshu said. "Sitting up's an improvement over last night, though."

Moe and Miwa immediately looked worried. "I'm sorry you got hurt protecting me," Moe said.

"It's not your fault, it's those guys' fault," Kisshu said.

"Oh, that's another thing," Miwa said. "Those guys got expelled, and sent to a juvenile delinquents' school. The principal held an assembly today after Ichigo left, and a police officer came to speak as well. They told us that knives in school are illegal, and that they'd be keeping a closer eye on mainly the boys. And after the assembly, Moe and I got taken aside by the principal and the police officer. We were surprised, they thanked us for protecting Kisshu, and then the police officer told us the principal had explained what we do to anyone who hurts you. We thought we'd be in trouble, but the police officer said that as long as we don't go overboard and send out death threats, the principal won't suspend us for protecting you both. We won't get suspended anymore as long as we're actually protecting you!"

"That's great!" Ichigo said. "And now you won't get grounded so much!"

"Yup!" Miwa said happily. Then she looked at Pai, who was still there. "So you're the guy with the cursed laugh?" she asked.

Ichigo sighed as Pai said, "Who told you I have a cursed laugh?"

"Kisshu, he said you laughing killed his best friend," Moe said.

"MY LAUGH IS NOT CURSED!" Pai shouted. "Why does everyone think me showing emotion is creepy?"

"Because it IS creepy," Ichigo said. "Go look in the mirror next time you smile. It's downright creepy."

"Grr…." Pai said. "See if I come the next time Kisshu gets sick. Mr. Momomiya hates me anyways."

"News flash Pai- if Kisshu gets sick, you WILL be coming here, even if I have to use Keiichiro's equipment to drag you out of your lab," Ichigo said.

"Why does Pai have to come?" Miwa asked.

"Kisshu's allergic to medicine, and Pai's a healer," Ichigo said. "If Kisshu gets sick, we can't help him."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Pai asked. "You can heal too."

"Yeah, but only if I turn into a cat," Ichigo said.

"You can turn into a cat?" Moe asked.

"Yup," Ichigo said. "So can Kisshu, actually. Mint gave him cat genes in the process of trying to kill me."

"I hate my cat genes," Kisshu grumbled.

Ichigo ruffled his hair, then concentrated and POOFed into cat form. This succeeded in startling Kisshu, and his cat ears popped out. Ichigo jumped onto the bed, and he glared at her. Sakura came over and rubbed his cat ears, successfully calming him down and causing him to start purring. Ichigo POOFed back to normal, and started rubbing Kisshu's cat ears as Sakura backed up. Kisshu kept purring, but was starting to look sleepy.

"Kisshu, get some sleep," Ichigo said softly. She gently took her hands away from his ears, and helped him lie back down. Then she pulled the covers over him, and climbed off the bed as he fell asleep. She looked at the others pointedly, and they left, followed by Ichigo, who closed the door partway.

"Ichigo, can you purr too?" Moe asked.

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "I like being petted. It makes me happy, so I purr. I think Kisshu's the same way, but while being petted makes me happy, it makes Kisshu calm and sleepy. I do that when we have to go somewhere in the car; he gets nervous inside cars. I think he's claustrophobic."

"He doesn't like cars?" Moe asked.

"No, and if we have to go somewhere in one, he insists on teleporting home," Ichigo said. "We took him to an Italian restaurant a while back, and it's a good thing it was a short drive, he had already decided he hated cars before we were halfway down the street."

"Wow," Moe said. "Did he like the Italian food?"

"A little too much," Ichigo said ruefully. "I told him to stop eating, but he didn't really listen, and I think it's good he teleported home, his stomach got pretty upset. I think if he had agreed to being driven home, he probably would have thrown up before we got home. I'm just glad he teleported to the bathroom rather than the living room."

"Poor guy, upset stomachs aren't fun," Miwa said.

"I also had to explain the saying, 'You're going to explode if you keep eating'," Ichigo said. "He asked me if it was a human thing, because he didn't think Cyniclons exploded. Humans don't explode either, but he didn't realize it was just a saying."

"What'd he have?" Pai said.

"Lasagna, lemonade, and chocolate mousse," Ichigo said. "But the bowl of chocolate mousse was huge, and unfortunately for him, he ate like half of it because it tasted good."

"I wonder if it's a bad idea to tell him I know how to make chocolate mousse," Sakura said.

"Yes," Pai said dryly. "Kisshu's got a real sweet tooth, though not as bad as Taruto's. He especially likes chocolate and apple things. He's kind of obsessed with apples."

"Apples are healthy," Sakura said. "I have a lot of apple dessert recipes and chocolate dessert recipes."

"Just set limits, or he'll go nuts," Pai said.

"I will," Sakura said. "It's one dessert a day in this house."

"Good, that should keep him both happy and under control," Pai said. "He can get hyper if he eats too much sugar."

"Okay," Sakura said.

"We're going to get going," Miwa said. "Ichigo, we'll see you and Kisshu when he's better, k?"

"K, thanks," Ichigo said. "And remember, don't tell."

"We won't," Moe said. "Ja ne."

"Ja ne," Ichigo said, and waved as Moe and Miwa went back downstairs. Shintaro came upstairs a minute later, glared at Pai briefly, and said, "How's Kisshu?"

Ichigo giggled as Sakura said, "He's asleep, I think Ichigo petting his cat ears put him to sleep."

Shintaro looked at Ichigo. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"You, asking whether Kishy is okay," Ichigo giggled."

"So?" Shintaro said. "You're the one who told me to go soft."

"I didn't expect it to happen this quickly," Ichigo said. "Moe and Miwa asked me if you were a clone."

"I am NOT a clone," Shintaro said.

"That's what I said," Ichigo said. "I backed it up with your seemingly endless hatred of Pai, though."

"You probably didn't need to," Pai said disgruntledly. "They believed Kisshu when he said my laugh is cursed."

"Okay, so then what's your theory on why Kishy's friend died?" Ichigo asked. "Kishy claims a rogue Chimera Anima appeared, ripped Kichi to pieces, and then vanished into thin air without harming anyone else."

"It's true that Kichi was killed by a rogue Chimera Anima, but the Chimera did NOT vanish into thin air, it destroyed a few trees and then got blasted by one of the fighting instructors at my school," Pai said. "Kichi was the only fatal casualty, but others got injured as well. And Kichi didn't get ripped to pieces, one of the Chimera's claws hit him in the chest, and then the Chimera went off on its destructive way," Pai said. "Kisshu was pretty broken up about Kichi's death, and it's true that Kichi made me laugh at something that day, but you really shouldn't listen to everything Kisshu and Taruto say about me. Most of their stories are either untrue or blown way out of proportion."

"I guess you're right- but I can't really blame Kishy for thinking your laugh might be cursed; it's pretty creepy," Ichigo said.

"Grr…" Pai said unhappily. "Maybe I should have shown more emotion, then everyone would think it was normal. Although Lettuce doesn't think it's creepy."

"That's proof of how lucky you are to have her," Ichigo said. "She's probably the only person in the universe who likes it when you laugh or smile. The rest of us freak."

"She's special," Pai said.

"Glad you realized that," Ichigo said.

Suddenly they heard Kisshu call out, "Koneko-chan?"

Ichigo went into his room and came over to the bed. "What's up?" she asked.

"I don't feel good," Kisshu said.

"Your stomach?" Ichigo asked.

"No, I just don't feel good," Kisshu said.

Ichigo felt his forehead and said, "You're burning up; it's no wonder you don't feel good."

"Can you help?" Kisshu asked.

"Sure," Ichigo said. She POOFed into cat form, and jumped onto the bed, then climbed onto Kisshu's chest and curled up over his heart, purring. Kisshu fell asleep as Ichigo began to glow pink. Like before, she kept her eyes closed until she sensed the power flow stopping, then opened her eyes to see her parents and Pai looking down at her. She looked at Pai, then back at Kisshu. Pai seemed to get the message, because he put a hand on Kisshu's chest, and closed his eyes. "Kisshu will be fine when he wakes up," Pai said after a minute. "He needs to get a little more rest before he can get up, though. Let him sleep off the healing, and he'll be feeling better when he wakes up. It's probably going to be a few hours at least." He patted Ichigo's head, and said, "Good work. You should rest too, you used up a lot of power."

Ichigo squeaked and curled up next to Kisshu, then promptly fell asleep. Pai put a finger on her chest, and said softly, "She'll be fine when she wakes up too. I think someone should stay with them, though."

"I'll stay," Shintaro said, causing Sakura and Pai to look at him like he had two heads. "What? I can adapt," he said.

Sakura snickered and ruffled his hair. "I'd say you've more than 'adapted' if you're offering to watch Kisshu," she said. "Pai and I will be leaving now." She grabbed Pai's arm and dragged him out of the the room, closing the door behind her.

"I swear, she's getting weirder by the day," Shintaro muttered, and settled back in the chair with a book.

Three hours later, Kisshu started to wake up, and turned his head toward the chair. He was shocked to see Shintaro sitting there, reading some book. He seemed to realize Kisshu was looking at him, because he looked up and asked, "Feeling better?"

"Y-yeah," Kisshu said. "Um… where's Ichigo?"

"She's still in cat form, and she's sleeping next to you," Shintaro said. "Pai said she needed to rest after healing you. She'll be fine when she wakes up."

Kisshu sat up, still a bit unnerved by seeing Shintaro in his room, and actually asking him if he was feeling better. He did get nervous when Shintaro said, "I've got a question."

"What is it?" Kisshu asked.

Shintaro held up the book he had been reading, which appeared to be one of Ichigo's fantasy novels. "How does Ichigo read this stuff? It's like they're speaking a different language."

Kisshu burst out laughing, causing Shintaro to look puzzled. "What was so funny about that?" he asked.

"I thought you were going to ask me another question about how responsible I am or something!" Kisshu said, still laughing. "I totally wasn't expecting THAT."

Shintaro was looking disgruntled. "I can adapt," he said sulkily.

Kisshu managed to calm down a bit and said, "Sorry. And in answer to your question, I don't know anything about the fantasy novels Ichigo reads. You'd have to ask her."

Shintaro sighed. Then they both heard a disgruntled 'nyaaaa' from Ichigo's direction. Kisshu turned and looked down. "Did we wake you up?" he asked.

Ichigo nodded, putting her paws over her eyes. "You want more sleep?" Kisshu asked. Ichigo gave a little kitten sigh and curled back up.

Kisshu sighed. "I'll take that as a yes," he said. He scratched her ears, and said, "I'm getting up, so you'll be here alone for a while."

"Myuu…" Ichigo mumbled.

"Let her sleep," Shintaro said. "We can come back later. Can you stand?"

"I think so," Kisshu said. He put his feet on the floor and stood up with no trouble. "I'm hungry," he said.

Shintaro looked at his watch. "It's about dinnertime anyways," he said. "Let's go see what Sakura made, Ichigo can come down when she's ready."

"Okay," Kisshu said, and went downstairs with Shintaro.

**I like Shintaro when he's OOC…. Please review!**


	18. Back to School

**Kitten Love Chapter 18:**

**Back to School**

The next day, Kisshu was feeling better, and he could walk. Pai had checked him out last night, and said he could go to school, so that morning, he and Ichigo walked to school. They were met at the gates by Moe and Miwa, who looked kind of grim.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"We overheard some of the guys talking, and they're not too happy with Kisshu," Miwa said. "Part of it is the results of the assembly, but also, they're not happy with their girlfriends mooning over Kisshu. We know it's not your fault the school's female population think you're hot, but they unfortunately don't see it that way. We're going to have to be careful."

"Great…" Ichigo said. "Well, we'd better go inside, we'll have just have to be careful."

The four teens went to their first class, and sat down together. Ichigo, Moe and Miwa formed a little half-circle around Kisshu, so the other girls couldn't get to him. Unfortunately, one of the girls was sitting in front of them. Moe and Ichigo, who were sitting on either side of Kisshu, glanced at each other, and Miwa caught on too. The teacher walked in a minute later and said, "Alright, I'm hoping today you all will actually work. And I've had it with whisperers, so anyone whispering will be getting an F for the day. Now, here's today's work." She handed out a worksheet, and the class got to work- sort of.

The boys were pretty much working, but the girls were a different story. The girl in front of Kisshu looked at the teacher to make sure she wasn't watching, then put a piece of paper on Kisshu's desk. Kisshu took it and without looking at the writing, crumpled it up quietly. Then he put it on the edge of the desk, and went back to work. The girl in front of him looked devastated, and another girl snickered. The teacher looked up. "Do I hear snickering?" she asked in a warning tone.

The girl stopped immediately. Then it looked like she had an idea, and took out a piece of notepaper. Kisshu, Ichigo, Moe and Miwa noticed, and all of them groaned silently. The girl put the piece of paper on Kisshu's desk, and, annoyed, he started ripping it up. Unfortunately, that made more noise than the other one had, and the teacher looked up. "Mr. Ikisatashi, what are you ripping up?" she asked.

Kisshu looked up. "Whatever she just passed me, I didn't think notes were allowed in class," he said, gesturing to the girl who had passed him the note. "I apologize for disrupting class, I was just irritated."

The teacher looked at the girl and said, "Do you want to explain why you felt the need to annoy your fellow students, Miss Noruki?"

The girl turned red and didn't respond. The teacher sighed. "Fine, three days in after-school detention," she said. "I really don't understand what's wrong with you people lately. Kisshu, in future, just try to rip stuff up more quietly."

"Hai, Sensei," Kisshu said, and went back to work.

Soon the bell rang, and everyone packed up. The girls who had tried to pass notes to Kisshu went out looking dejected, while every other girl looked hopeful. On the way to their second period, Kisshu asked, "Why are the girls here so creepy? That staring at me creeps me out."

"They don't have brains," Miwa said dismissively. "They only focus on make-up and hot guys, not schoolwork or anything else important. If they weren't often nasty to Ichigo, I'd feel sorry for how pathetic they are, but as it is, they're going down if they say one more nasty thing about our best friend."

"Can you help me keep them away?" Kisshu asked. "They look like they want to eat me."

"More reasons to humiliate the idiots? Count us in," Moe said. "Besides, you saved me, it's the least I can do."

Kisshu grinned as they entered the next classroom. This one wasn't too bad; the teacher was known for being strict to the point of evil, so no one crossed him.

The next class was a different story. The girls were back at it, staring at Kisshu dreamily again. Kisshu seemed to be good at ignoring them, unless they passed him notes. He got two notes in the class, and both of them he crumpled up without looking at them, leaving another two girls pretty down-hearted.

Recess was next, and the girls obviously thought this was their chance. No such luck. Ichigo, Moe and Miwa sat down under a large tree, and Kisshu was about to do the same. The girls saw this as their chance, and a group started heading over. Kisshu took one look at them, flinched, and leaped onto a branch of the tree, out of reach of the girls. Then he took out his lunch and started eating.

This didn't deter the girls, but when Miwa and Moe looked over at the approaching group, everyone but their leader got nervous. The leader was obviously an idiot; she called out, "You two should quit while you're ahead. You really believe we'll give up if you glare at us?"

"You're an idiot, Yana," Miwa said. "I don't see why you'd think Kisshu would dump Ichigo to be with any of YOU."

"Wait, Kisshu's with _Ichigo_?" another girl asked. "What does he even see in her?"

Before Moe and Miwa could start beating them to a pulp, Kisshu called down, "I see a beautiful girl with a big heart. Besides Moe and Miwa, I frankly think the rest of you are creepy. Why do you stare at me like that?"

Ichigo was bright red and the other girls were speechless. Moe cracked her knuckles and said, "Anyone ELSE got something to say?"

The girls mutely shook their heads and walked away. "Way to go, Kisshu!" Miwa said.

Kisshu smirked. "Thanks."

Ichigo looked up at him. "You really think that about me?" she asked.

"I thought you knew that," Kisshu said. "I love you, Koneko-chan."

"I love you too, Kishy," Ichigo said with a bright smile.

Kisshu smiled back, and leaped down from the tree. Then he went to Ichigo and kissed her. She closed her eyes, kissing him back passionately. They broke it off a minute later, and smiled at each other.

"You two are really cute," Miwa said.

"Thanks," Ichigo said, blushing.

Suddenly a guy came up to them, looking rather unhappy, and said, "Do you know why half the girls in school are crying? It's driving the rest of us nuts."

"Probably because I told them they were creepy," Kisshu said. "I don't like being stared at, and it seems like that's all they do- stare at me."

"Why do they do that?" the boy asked.

"Because they have no brains," Moe said. "And because they think Kisshu is hot. Bad combination. We almost had to beat some of them up, but Kisshu told them they were creepy, and they left."

"My girlfriend's crying," the boy sighed. "Makes me wonder how faithful she is. And she says Ichigo doesn't deserve Kisshu…"

"Who's your girlfriend?" Moe asked.

"Harina Nori," the boy said.

"We'll be back," Miwa said, and she and Moe went off to find their next target.

"I just doomed Nori, didn't I?" the boy asked.

"Yup," Ichigo said. "Don't go after them, you'll end up seriously injured, and seeing as there's supposed to be a competition for your team tomorrow, I don't think you want that."

"You're probably right," the boy said. "I'm Hino Kaien, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," Kisshu said. "Especially seeing as you're not trying to beat me up like the other guys."

"Oh, right, you're the one Moe and Miwa were protecting," Kaien said. "How's your shoulder?"

"It wasn't as bad as it looked, I just lost a lot of blood, so the injury looked worse than it actually was," Kisshu said. "I'm fine, thanks."

"Good," Kaien said. "Kisshu, are you into kendo?"

"Not at all," Kisshu said, shuddering.

Noticing Kaien looked puzzled, Ichigo said, "Kisshu hated Aoyama, and basically anything he liked, Kisshu hates- except me. Besides, all the girls turn out for kendo practice. If Kisshu thinks recess is bad, imagine what's going to happen if he joins the kendo team."

"You're right," Kaien said. "Jeez was it hard to concentrate while all of Aoyama's fan girls were in there screaming."

"Creepy," Kisshu said. "Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass."

"We're back!" Miwa said loudly. Unfortunately, loud wasn't good. Kisshu's cat ears popped out, and he covered his head.

"Oops," Miwa said softly.

Kaien looked puzzled. "What happened?" he asked.

"My older brother and my younger brother had a fight in my older brother's lab, and when I tried to stop them, I knocked into something," Kisshu said. "And now look." He took his hands off his head, and Kaien said, "You've got cat ears?"

"My older brother is a scientist, and he's into animals," Kisshu said. "I don't really remember what happened, but when I woke up, I had cat ears. Now they only come out when I'm startled, though. The rest of the time, my ears are normal." Kisshu took a deep breath, and his ears went back to looking human.

"That doesn't sound fun…" Kaien said. "There's no way to reverse it?"

"Not that Pai knows of," Kisshu said gloomily. "And I get the tail too."

"Yikes," Kaien said. "I'll remember not to startle you."

"Thanks," Kisshu said. "And please don't tell anyone; it's hard enough keeping them under control without people knowing I've got cat ears."

"I won't," Kaien said. "I doubt anyone would believe me anyways, but I won't tell." He turned to Moe and Miwa and asked, "How bad did you do it this time?"

"We let her off easy, only one black eye," Miwa said. "And we told her she should be more faithful to her boyfriend. But we didn't tell her it was you who told us about her being nasty about Ichigo."

"Thank you," Kaien said with relief.

The bell rang then, and they all ran back inside.

**This is interesting… my new OC is getting friendly with Kisshu. Review plz!**


	19. The New Threat

**Kitten Love Chapter 19:**

**The New Threat**

After school, Ichigo and Kisshu walked home. They found Sakura and Shintaro waiting, and Ichigo immediately said, "What's wrong?"

"We got a call from Keiichiro, saying you need to go to the Café," Sakura said. "Something about a new enemy."

Ichigo and Kisshu looked worried, and Kisshu said, "We'll go now." He took Ichigo's hand and teleported.

They landed in the basement, and Keiichiro looked up. "You're the first ones here," he said. "The others will be here soon."

A minute later, Pai and Taruto teleported in with Lettuce and Pudding, and Zakuro came down the stairs a few minutes later. Keiichiro stood up and said, "Now that you're all here, I have to tell you that I think there's a new enemy here in Tokyo. The computers are picking up a large amount of energy, but it's moving around, so I can't pinpoint where it's coming from. However, there was a news report yesterday that showed a picture of a guy who looked like the Blue Knight, but dressed in red. I guess a news reporter got a picture when he passed. What he's doing here is beyond me, though."

"Uh… Kisshu, isn't that the guy you described yesterday when you had that nightmare about Ichigo dying?" Pai asked.

Kisshu looked scared, and said, "Yeah… and that means he's probably out to get Ichigo."

"What makes you say that?" Keiichiro asked.

"The nightmare I had," Kisshu said. "I saw that guy kill Ichigo, and for some reason, I felt like all my energy was being drained away. I couldn't help her, and she died. None of you were in the dream, though."

"If none of us were in the dream, than it's probable that this guy is only after the two of you," Pai said. "Or Ichigo, for some reason."

"Why would this guy be after me? I don't even know him," Ichigo said.

"He may be after you because you're the leader of the Mews," Keiichiro said. "But there's one other possibility, which I like even less."

"What is it?" Kisshu asked.

"I was looking at the paper a few days ago, and in the police reports it said that there had been a jailbreak," Keiichiro said. "I'm sure you know what that means."

"Mint got out and wants revenge," Kisshu said grimly.

Keiichiro also sounded grim as he said, "Yes. My guess is that the guy in red is helping Mint for some reason. If he gave her power, this isn't going to be easy. I know Kisshu crushed her pendant, but there are other ways she could get power. We'll have to be careful."

"You're right," Pai said. "Is there anything else we need to know?"

"No, but I'll contact you when I have more information," Keiichiro said. "Kisshu, Ichigo, be careful."

"We will," Ichigo said. "Kisshu, let's go tell Mom and Dad."

"Okay," Kisshu said, and teleported her back home.

Sakura and Shintaro were waiting, and Sakura immediately asked, "What's the news?"

"We think the new enemy is in league with Mint, which means he's going to go after me and Kisshu," Ichigo said. "We're all going to have to be careful."

"I'll go get the sword," Shintaro said. As he headed off to the basement, Sakura called, "If you knock over my vase again, you'll have more than one of Ichigo's enemies to deal with!"

They all saw Shintaro flinch, and laughed.

_**Late that night: **_Ichigo woke up with a start, since she heard Kisshu scream. She immediately leaped out of bed, flung her door open, and ran to Kisshu's room. Her parents came in a second later, as Ichigo started shaking Kisshu. "Kisshu! Kisshu, wake up!" Ichigo cried out.

Kisshu's eyes snapped open, and his cat ears popped out as he sat bolt upright. "Kisshu, did you have the nightmare again?" Ichigo asked, sitting next to him on the bed.

"Y-you can't be alive," Kisshu whispered. "That guy killed you…."

Ichigo reached out, and Kisshu flinched, closing his eyes. Ichigo gently started rubbing one of his ears, and he opened his eyes. "Kisshu, it was a nightmare, I'm fine," Ichigo said softly.

"Really?" Kisshu whispered. "You're fine?"

"I'm really fine," Ichigo said softly, still rubbing his ear.

Kisshu hugged her tightly, burying his face in her shoulder as he started crying. Ichigo hugged back as Sakura sat down with them and started rubbing Kisshu's cat ears, which had yet to go away.

Eventually they managed to calm Kisshu down, but he wouldn't let go of Ichigo. Ichigo looked at Sakura, who obviously got the message, because she proceeded to drag Shintaro out of the room, closing the door behind her. Ichigo giggled as she heard Shintaro's disgruntled, "What was THAT for, Sakura?"

Kisshu was looking tired, and Ichigo said, "Okay, scoot over."

Kisshu reluctantly let go of her and obeyed. As soon as she got into the bed with him, he immediately attached himself to her again. She put her arms around him and started stroking his hair. It wasn't until she was sure that he was sleeping that she stopped, and went to sleep herself.

It was NOT easy getting up for school the next morning, but Ichigo and Kisshu managed it. Kisshu was still pretty quiet, and Ichigo was trying to cheer him up- with very little success. She was about to give it up, when she noticed a pan of brownies from yesterday. Checking to see that her mother was not in the room, Ichigo got up, cut a large piece of brownie, and put it on Kisshu's plate. "Eat that," she told him. "It'll make you feel better."

"It's time to go," Kisshu said sadly. "I don't have time."

"Then eat it on the way," Ichigo said. "Come on."

Kisshu looked at the brownie listlessly, and picked it up, then went to get his shoes on. Ichigo did the same. They left, Kisshu taking a bite of the brownie. He looked at it after swallowing, and took another bite as they walked.

By the time they got to the school, Kisshu had finished the brownie, and was a lot more cheerful. "Thanks Koneko-chan," he said. "You realize Sakura's going to kill you when she sees how much you gave me, right?"

"It'll be worth it," Ichigo said. "I don't like seeing you sad."

Kisshu looked at her, a bit startled, and said, "I don't like seeing you sad either."

Moe and Miwa ran up to them, and Moe said, "How's it going?"

"I had another nightmare about Ichigo dying last night," Kisshu said, his cheerfulness fading. "And Mint apparently broke out of jail and is out to get us."

"So, not good," Miwa said.

"We'd better get to class, but we'll keep the other students away from you guys until you feel better, Kisshu," Moe said.

"Thanks," Kisshu said.

Ichigo sighed. "So I'm going to get killed for something that worked for about five minutes?" she sighed.

"Who's going to kill you?" Miwa asked.

"I gave Kisshu like a quarter of a pan of brownies, hoping it would cheer him up, but it only worked for about five minutes," Ichigo said. "My mom's going to have a fit."

"That's not very healthy," Moe said as they started walking to class.

"Pai said chocolate usually makes Kisshu happy," Ichigo said. "I was hoping that much chocolate would get rid of the gloomy mood he's been in since last night."

"Oh…" Moe said, as they reached the classroom.

As usual, up till recess there weren't really any problems. Unfortunately, the girls in their class noticed Kisshu's mood, and attributed it to Ichigo. Until recess, they couldn't really do much, but when Ichigo, Kisshu, Moe and Miwa went outside, they noticed a lot of girls looking rather hostile.

"Great…" Moe muttered as a girl came up to them and said, "Ichigo, what'd you do to Kisshu?"

"Nothing," Ichigo said.

"Then why is he sad?" the girl asked. "You're his girlfriend, so you must have done something to make him sad."

"It's not Ichigo's fault," Kisshu said. "I just don't like dreaming about her dying."

"Sounds like that's her fault, if you weren't with her, maybe you wouldn't be sad," the girl said.

Ichigo lowered her head sadly, and walked off. Moe and Miwa turned to Kisshu, and said, "You go cheer her up, we'll deal with this piece of garbage."

"I suppose I can't help you?" Kisshu asked. Now he was looking angry. "NO ONE hurts Ichigo and gets away with it."

"Which is why we're here," Miwa said. "She needs you, Kisshu. We'll handle beating this jerk to a pulp. Go."

Kisshu ran off after Ichigo as Moe and Miwa grabbed the girl, and promptly started beating her up.

Kisshu reached the tree he had seen Ichigo near last, and looked up. Ichigo was sitting on a branch, crying. "Koneko-chan, it's not your fault I'm having nightmares," Kisshu said gently. "Don't listen to stupid people, it really isn't your fault. And if they're premonitions, they were sent by someone else, which means it's _definitely _not your fault. You're not the reason I'm sad, and I'm not really sad anymore. The brownie idea helped. Can you come down?"

Ichigo looked at him sadly. "Come on, didn't I just tell you this morning that I don't like seeing you sad?" Kisshu asked teasingly. "Come on down, and smile, k?"

Ichigo looked down, and flinched. Kisshu noticed and facepalmed. "You can't get down, can you?" he asked. Without waiting for an answer, he jumped onto a nearby branch, picked Ichigo up, and leaped down, then set her down. "No more tree climbing, kitty," he said with a smirk. "We don't really want to call the fire department every time you get stuck."

Ichigo giggled. "Fine, no more trees."

Kisshu smiled. His smile faded as a boy came up to them with the beginnings of a black eye. "Let me guess, the girl our friends are beating up is your girlfriend, and you tried to stop them?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah, pretty much," the boy said. "Moe and Miwa are completely unstoppable. Scary."

He jumped when Miwa tapped his shoulder. "What was that again?" she asked sweetly."

"Nothing, Honjou-san, nothing at all," the boy said nervously. "Please spare me!"

"Oh, fine, since Ichigo's in a better mood," Miwa said reluctantly. "I'd suggest running before we change our minds, though." She gave him an evil smile, and he promptly ran away screaming bloody murder.

"Is she dead?" Kisshu asked, pointing to the girl who had made Ichigo sad.

"Not really," Miwa said. "Brain-dead, yes. Really dead? Not so much."

"Too bad, really," Moe said. "We had to leave her alive."

"You two are totally freaking me out," the principal said from behind them. "What did she do?"

"She made Ichigo cry," Miwa said. "Did we overdo it?"

"She has a broken arm," the principal said. "Does that answer your question?"

"Yes," Miwa said. "If that's all, she's going DOWN the next time. A broken arm is nothing, really."

The principal looked actually scared. "Um…. just out of curiosity, not that I would…. If I suspended Ichigo or Kisshu for some reason, what would you do to me?" he asked.

"Nothing, you're a grown-up," Moe said. "And you work at a school. That combination works out well for you, because it means you'd have your reasons. That girl had no reason to make Ichigo cry, but she did so anyways. She deserved what she got. Frankly, she got off easy. One broken arm is not bad. And it's not like we gave her a concussion, right?"

"Uh…. I don't know, but the ambulance is on its way," the principal said. He sighed. "Since I have a feeling my school will completely go to the dogs if you two get arrested, I guess I'll go tell them she was climbing a tree when this happened," he sighed.

"Bad idea, she'll tell everyone it was us," Moe said. "Tell them she attacked us after we told her she was a bitch, and it was self-defense."

"I'm amazed that you come up with stuff like that," the principal said.

Moe and Miwa smirked. "We've had a LOT of practice," they said.

The principal sighed and walked away as Moe and Miwa hi-fived each other.

**Moe and Miwa are amazing, aren't they? Review plz!**


	20. The Crimson Warrior

**Kitten Love Chapter 20:**

**The Crimson Warrior**

Kisshu was more cheerful for the rest of the day. This lasted until they got home to find Sakura waiting for them, looking very unhappy. "Alright, which one of you took half the pan of brownies?" she asked.

"Me," Ichigo said. "I couldn't cheer Kisshu up, and I thought a lot of chocolate would help."

"And did it?" Sakura asked.

"Somewhat," Kisshu said. "I'm feeling a lot better now."

Sakura sighed. "Fine… but no other desserts today, for either of you," she said sternly.

"Okay," Ichigo said. "I was expecting something like that."

Suddenly Ichigo's cell phone rang. It was Pai, and she answered. "What's up?" she asked.

"_There's some kind of attack going on downtown," _Pai said. _"We need you and Kisshu there, now!"_

"Where downtown?" Ichigo asked.

"_The mall," _Pai said.

"We're on our way," Ichigo said, and hung up. Then she looked at Kisshu. "There's an attack by something at the mall," she said. "I'll transform, will you teleport me?"

"Sure," Kisshu said.

Ichigo transformed, but was surprised when Kisshu concentrated for a minute, and then his cat features popped out. "I don't want to be recognized," he explained. Then he took her hand and teleported to the mall.

When they got there, the guy in red and a girl who looked like Mew Mint, but different, were attacking people as they ran away. "I think that's Mint," Ichigo said. "She looks different."

Mint was wearing a dark blue shirt and light blue pants, which were tucked into sky blue boots. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her wings had gotten larger. She still had a bow, but it was bigger, and it looked like she could shoot arrows more quickly.

The guy in red was dressed the same as the Blue Knight had been, but he had brown hair, and blue eyes. He had a long sword, and was using it to blast people with fire. Ichigo and Kisshu looked at each other, then ran over. Both Mint and the guy in red left off attacking some guys who were trying to run for it, and turned to Kisshu and Ichigo. "You two are going down," the guy in red said emotionlessly.

"Who are you, anyways?" Ichigo asked. "And why would you help Mint?"

"I am the Crimson Warrior, and I help Mint because she will help me achieve my goal," the guy said.

"Which is…" Kisshu said.

"World domination," the Crimson Warrior said.

"Well, we're not going to give you the opportunity," Ichigo snarled. "We're going to take you both down."

She got out her weapon, and Kisshu followed suit. Mint shot an arrow at Ichigo, and she dodged, then kicked Mint in the side- or tried to. Mint flew out of reach, and started shooting arrows at Ichigo from above. Ichigo dodged a bunch of arrows, and performed her Strawberry Surprise attack.

Kisshu was fighting the Crimson Warrior, who wasn't having much luck on his goal to kill Kisshu. Kisshu was obviously more skilled than he was, and the fact that the Crimson Warrior only had one sword didn't really help. The Crimson Warrior shot a blast of fire at Kisshu, who dodged. Kisshu created an energy ball, and sent it at the Crimson Warrior. It only managed to scorch his shoulder, but that seemed to be enough, because he then called, "Mint, we must retreat."

Mint immediately flew down, and the Crimson Warrior grabbed her hand and teleported. Kisshu and Ichigo sighed, and Kisshu said, "He isn't that great. Still, we'll need to keep our guard up."

"Mint's gotten a bit better," Ichigo said grimly. "We'd better go tell Keiichiro and the others about this."

Kisshu took her hand and teleported to the basement of Café Mew Mew. Keiichiro was the only one there, and he said, "How'd it go?"

"They retreated after I scorched the guy's shoulder," Kisshu said. "He called himself the Crimson Warrior. He's not as good with a sword as the Blue Knight was, though."

"That's good for our side, then," Keiichiro said. "Why are your cat ears and tail out?"

"I didn't want to be recognized, so I forced them to come out," Kisshu said. "The effects of the ear-changing pill haven't worn off yet."

"I see," Keiichiro said. "Well, you'd better get home and tell your parents that you're okay."

Kisshu nodded, and then teleported Ichigo back to their house. "We're back!" Ichigo called out.

Sakura and Shintaro both came in looking relieved. "How'd it go?" Shintaro asked.

"The guy in red isn't as good with a sword as the Blue Knight was," Kisshu said. "Mint's gotten a bit more powerful, though. We got them to retreat, but this isn't over."

Sakura sighed. "Be careful," she said. "We don't want to lose either of you."

"We will, and you won't lose us," Ichigo said. "We're going to take both of them down."

"Good," Shintaro said.

"It's dinnertime, so come eat," Sakura said. "I made chicken parmesan."

"Isn't that what Shintaro had at the Italian restaurant?" Kisshu asked.

"Yes, good memory," Sakura said.

"What exactly is it?" Kisshu asked.

"It's breaded chicken cooked with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and tomato sauce, and then served over spaghetti or some other type of pasta," Sakura explained. "Ichigo usually gets that at Italian restaurants, but last time I guess she wanted something different."

"The lasagna there is good," Ichigo said.

They all went to the table and sat down, and Sakura started dishing out chicken parmesan for all of them. "Do you two have homework today?" Sakura asked.

"Luckily, no," Kisshu said. "The teachers said something about a teacher workday. I'm not sure what that is, but no school is fine by me."

"Oh, that means the teachers have meetings about how to better teach you all day," Shintaro said. "No school is fun, though. I liked teacher workdays."

"Hey Koneko-chan, wanna go on a date tomorrow?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo blushed. "Sure, what did you have in mind?" she asked.

"Can we go out for ice cream?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo smiled. "Sounds great."

"You two have fun," Sakura said. "Do you have enough money?"

"I don't think I have any," Kisshu admitted.

"I'll give you some for you and Ichigo," Shintaro said. "I don't know about in your culture, but in most Earth cultures, the guy takes the girl out."

"Yeah, it's like that on my planet as well," Kisshu said. "Thanks."

"Sure," Shintaro said.

_**Late that night: **_Ichigo was once again woken up by Kisshu screaming. _I hope these nightmares go away, _she thought as she ran to Kisshu's room. She ran to the bed and started shaking Kisshu. "Kisshu! Kisshu, wake up!" she cried out.

Kisshu's eyes shot open as his cat ears popped out again. He sat bolt upright, and then turned to look at Ichigo. "You're still alive?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Ichigo said. "Was it the same nightmare?"

"Yeah…. every time, it feels like I get weaker, and I can't help you; I can't even stand up," Kisshu said.

"I hope the Crimson Warrior doesn't have some energy draining thing," Ichigo said.

"Hey, your parents didn't come in this time," Kisshu commented.

"Probably because Mom knows I can calm you down, and so Dad doesn't object to me climbing in with you so you don't have the nightmare twice," Ichigo said.

"Okay," Kisshu said. "But I didn't hear anything from their room. Do you think we should check to make sure the Crimson Warrior didn't come here?"

Ichigo looked worried. "I didn't think of that, let's go," she said.

Kisshu got out of bed and followed her next door. Ichigo knocked on the door, and heard a soft, "Yeah?"

Ichigo opened the door, and said, "Sorry to bug you, we just got worried when you didn't come after Kisshu screamed."

"Sorry sweetie," Sakura said. "Your dad just pulled the covers over his head and muttered something about, "Let Ichigo handle it…" I figured he was right. I'm sorry if we worried you."

"It's fine," Ichigo said. "We're going back to bed now."

"Night," Sakura said sleepily.

Ichigo quietly closed the door and said, "I guess there was nothing to worry about. Your room or mine tonight?"

"Yours," Kisshu said. Ichigo smiled and led the way back to her room. She and Kisshu climbed into her bed, and Kisshu snuggled up to her, while she put her arms around him.

**Next chapter will be their first official date. Will it go well? Review and find out- most likely tomorrow. So you've got plenty of time to review!**


	21. First Date

**Kitten Love Chapter 21:**

**First Date**

The next day was Saturday, and Kisshu was taking Ichigo out on their first official date. Both of them were pretty excited, and Ichigo was trying to choose something to wear. She finally decided on a cute knee-length pink dress, with applique strawberries around the hem. She pulled her hair into a single ponytail that fell over her left shoulder, and put on a necklace, which was a small gold heart on a thin gold chain. She added pink and gold flower-shaped earrings, and put on pink strawberry flavored lip gloss. Then she grabbed her pink ankle boots and went downstairs.

Kisshu was waiting for her, and said, "You look amazing, Koneko-chan."

"Thanks, you look really hot," Ichigo said- then squeaked, turning red.

Kisshu smirked. He was wearing a pair of black jeans that were tucked into his boots, a dark green T-shirt, and a black zip-up jacket, which he had left unzipped. His hair was pulled back in the usual ponytail and as Ichigo had said, he looked _hot_.

"Ready to go?" Kisshu asked Ichigo.

"Yep," Ichigo said happily.

"You two have fun, but be careful," Sakura said, poking her head out of the kitchen.

"We will," Kisshu said. Then he took Ichigo's hand, and they walked out. The ice cream place was about two blocks away, and it was a nice day for a walk. They talked about random things on their way, finding out more about each other's lives. Ichigo wasn't really surprised that Kisshu knew a lot of the stuff she told him; he had been stalking her for quite a while before they got together. She was surprised at some of the things he told her, though. Right now she was listening to him talk about his parents.

"My mom and dad were the nicest people you'd ever meet," Kisshu said. "Except for Sakura, I've never met anyone else even remotely like them. They were both a bit overprotective, but not to the point your dad was at before he went soft. I had a younger sister, but she died as a baby; there was something wrong with her heart. I got to hold her once, though. She was so tiny, and unlike most babies, she was pretty quiet. It was hard on all of us when she died. I was about five at the time. And frankly, my life went downhill from there. About a year after her death, my parents were killed in a rockslide. Pai and Taruto's parents took me in, but I went into depression for months. They finally suggested I start training at the military academy on our planet. The schedule there was hard, but it was usually enough to take my mind off my parents. Pai and Taruto were there too. I didn't have many friends, which is why it was so hard when Kichi died."

"Why didn't you have many friends?" Ichigo asked.

"Most of the students were jealous of my skills," Kisshu said. "Although here on Earth, I didn't really fight that well, I had my reasons, the main one being that I didn't want to kill you. Back home, there was no one, not the students, not the instructors, and not even the older warriors, who could beat me. The fighting instructors stopped teaching me six months after they started; I was better than them. Same with the teachers for Cyniclon powers and the teachers who dealt with Chimera Animas. Except for Kichi, Pai and Taruto, no one really liked me. The kids who were more studious and good at academics teased me because I was horrible at math, and everyone else was mean to me because they were jealous. The only thing they didn't do to make me unhappy was attack me- most likely because they knew they'd go down in flames. The only reason I put up with it was because I wanted to help my people find a better place to live. Otherwise, I would have just quit."

"That must have been really tough," Ichigo said softly. "It makes me glad I've got Moe and Miwa; they've always dealt with people who try to hurt me or are mean to me. But then again, I'm far from being a top student at anything. Aside from the Mew powers, I'm pretty average."

"I don't think you're average; I think you're special," Kisshu said. "We're here, by the way."

Ichigo blushed, and said, "Thanks, Kishy. I love you."

Kisshu smiled happily. "I never get tired of hearing that from you," he said.

Ichigo smiled, and said, "What are you getting?"

"Something chocolate," Kisshu said. "What about you?"

"I think I'll get my usual," Ichigo said. "Strawberry with hot fudge."

"That sounds good," Kisshu said. "Can I get that too?"

Ichigo giggled. "Of course, you can get whatever you want," she said.

The two of them went into the store, and ordered two cups of strawberry ice cream with hot fudge sauce. Once they got their orders, they sat down at a small table. "This is good," Kisshu said, taking a bite of his.

"I love the chocolate and strawberry combination," Ichigo said. "Actually, I like hot fudge on any kind of ice cream."

"I've never had it," Kisshu said. He looked at the door, and said, "Isn't that Kaien?"

Ichigo looked. "Yeah, but he looks really unhappy about something," she said.

"Maybe that girl Moe and Miwa beat up broke up with him?" Kisshu suggested.

"Maybe," Ichigo said.

Kaien seemed to notice them, and Kisshu waved. Kaien came over. "Hi guys," he said.

"What's wrong? You look gloomy," Kisshu said.

"Nori told me that if I can't protect her from Ichigo's maniac friends, I don't deserve to live," Kaien said. "And I told her that if she wants a boyfriend, she should stay faithful to whoever it is. And that was my morning."

"That sounds pretty bad," Kisshu said. "Sorry you had to go through that."

"It's not your fault," Kaien sighed. "I know that she brought the beating on herself, but like the rest of the girls- besides Ichigo, Moe and Miwa-, I guess she really only cares about herself and her looks."

"Except for those three, the rest of the girls are downright creepy," Kisshu said. "I don't get the whole staring and passing notes. That is so irritating. Don't they realize I'm trying to work?"

"I noticed that Moe and Miwa are scaring girls away from you as well," Kaien said.

"I asked them to," Kisshu said. "The girls creep me out, and the boys hate me. Except you. Just out of curiosity, why don't you hate me?"

"You seem like a nice guy, and Moe and Miwa's recommendation is good enough for me," Kaien said. "Moe and Miwa have a reputation for hating boys. If they like you enough to help you, you must be something else."

"He is," Ichigo said. Kisshu blushed, and Ichigo giggled.

Kaien smiled slightly and said, "I'll leave you two alone. You might want to get home soon, there's a storm coming."

Kisshu and Ichigo looked out the window at a rapidly darkening sky. "Jeez, that came up fast," Kisshu said. "I guess we'd better head out, Koneko-chan."

"Good plan," Ichigo said. They threw their empty dishes away, and left.

As soon as they got outside, they both felt power building up in the air. "This isn't a natural storm," Ichigo said. "I guess we'd better get home."

"Yeah," Kisshu said. "Let's hide, and I'll teleport."

"There's an alleyway," Ichigo said, pointing. They ran in, and Kisshu teleported them back to their house.

They landed in the front hall, and as soon as they did, Sakura ran in. "You two have to go to the Café, Keiichiro says it's an emergency," she said.

"On our way," Kisshu said, and teleported again.

**A bit short, but I wanted to do mainly fluff for their first date. Review and please don't flame!**


	22. The Storm

**Kitten Love Chapter 22:**

**The Storm**

By the time Kisshu and Ichigo landed in the basement of Café Mew Mew, the storm had started, and it sounded pretty bad. Keiichiro and the others looked up as Kisshu and Ichigo teleported in.

"I'm sure you've realized this isn't a normal storm," Keiichiro said. "I assume that the Crimson Warrior created it somehow, but one thing puzzles me. If Mint needed to fly, she couldn't in this weather; she'd get blown away."

"We'd get blown away too," Kisshu said. "The wind out there is too strong to fly in. And the rain doesn't help."

"Maybe the storm is an indirect way of getting rid of us," Lettuce suggested. "Is there a way to tell where the storm is headed?"

Keiichiro sat down at the computer and opened something up, then started typing. Suddenly there was a beep, and his eyes widened. "I should have guessed," he said. "The storm is headed here. They probably want to destroy my equipment. Without it, I'd be unable to track them or get new information."

"This is _bad,_" Kisshu said. "Is there a way to stop the storm? If it's not a natural thing, maybe there's some way to get rid of it."

Pai looked thoughtful. Then he said, "I'm going outside, maybe I can do something." Before the others could respond, he teleported out.

Kisshu sighed. "Pai's good with weather, we'll just have to hope for the best," he said. The others nodded, and settled down to wait.

Twenty minutes later, Kisshu and Taruto jumped up, and Kisshu said, "Pai needs more power, we're going." They teleported out as the others looked at each other.

"Should we go upstairs?" Lettuce asked.

"Let's wait a bit, I don't want to distract them," Keiichiro said. The others sighed and settled down again.

Ten minutes later, Kisshu and Taruto teleported in, supporting Pai between them. Everyone jumped up, and Lettuce asked, "What _happened_?"

"He used up too much power," Kisshu said. "He needs to rest. Keiichiro, can he stay here for a while?"

"Sure," Keiichiro said. "Come with me."

Kisshu and Taruto carried Pai out after Keiichiro, leaving the girls alone.

Ichigo noticed Lettuce looked worried, and said, "Lettuce, I'm sure Pai will be fine."

Lettuce just sighed. Kisshu teleported back in and said, "Pai's going to be fine when he wakes up, but that might be a while. It took all his power, and most of mine and Taruto's, to stop the storm."

"Are you both okay?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm fine, but Taruto's going to need some rest as well," Kisshu said. "Keiichiro's currently setting up another room for him."

"Can Pudding stay?" Pudding asked.

"Can you stay quiet and not get too hyper?" Kisshu asked.

"Pudding can do that," Pudding said. "Pudding will tell Sensei that she needs her to look after Pudding's siblings."

"Alright," Kisshu said.

Pudding perked up, hugged Kisshu, and took out her cell phone. Then she walked off to talk to Heicha's sensei.

"Kisshu, should we get home?" Ichigo asked.

"Good plan," Kisshu said. "I'm getting tired."

"Do you want me to call Mom and see if we can get a ride home?" Ichigo asked.

"No, I still don't like cars," Kisshu said. "I've got enough energy left to teleport." He took her hand, and teleported to the living room. Almost as soon as they landed, Kisshu stumbled. Ichigo caught him as Sakura came out of the kitchen. "What happened?" she asked.

"I helped Pai stop the storm, and now I'm exhausted," Kisshu said.

"Go to bed," Sakura said.

Kisshu just nodded, and Ichigo helped him up the stairs to his room. "Do you want me to stay?" Ichigo asked as Kisshu laid back on the bed.

"Yeah…." Kisshu said. He was already almost asleep.

Ichigo sat down next to him, and began stroking his hair. He was already asleep, but he still started purring.

About an hour later, Kisshu's purring had put Ichigo to sleep, and she had curled up like a cat on the bed.

Another hour passed before Sakura came up to see if they wanted dinner. She found them cuddled up together, so she just tucked them in and left, closing the door behind her so Shintaro wouldn't complain.

The next morning was Saturday, and Ichigo and Kisshu both slept till ten. Kisshu was the first up, and was somewhat surprised to see Ichigo in the bed with him. He noticed that she was stirring, and asked softly, "Koneko-chan?"

"Morning, Kishy," Ichigo yawned. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I was just tired," Kisshu said.

Ichigo smiled and said, "Should we go get breakfast?"

"Sure, I skipped dinner last night," Kisshu said.

"Me too, I fell asleep stroking your hair and listening to you purr," Ichigo said. "Let's go."

They got out of bed and went downstairs. They found Sakura and Shintaro discussing something, and they both looked up. "Oh, good, you're up," Sakura said.

"What's up?" Ichigo asked.

"Your father entered some contest to win tickets to the Caribbean without telling me," Sakura said. "And he won. I told him this time I would ask you if you minded us going. I don't really mind either way, so it's not going to bug me if you say you'd rather we stay here."

Ichigo looked at Kisshu, who looked a little nervous. "Kisshu, is something wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"I don't know," Kisshu said. "I just have a bad feeling about this."

Ichigo concentrated, and said, "I think you're right. Maybe it's a trap?"

"I don't know that, but it's a possibility," Kisshu said.

"We can stay here," Sakura said. "And Shintaro can give the tickets to his friend, who's always wanted to go the Caribbean. I'm sure Micheru would be more than happy to go."

"Do I have to?" Shintaro asked. "I don't normally win these things."

"That's what worries me," Sakura and Ichigo said at the same time.

"Dad, you never win anything, including the games of Twenty Questions," Ichigo said. "That you would win something like a trip to the Caribbean seems suspicious to me."

"Fine… I'll go get rid of the tickets if you think it's a trap," Shintaro sighed. "If it's some kind of trap for us, I'm not giving them to Micheru."

"Good," Kisshu said. "Is there anything to eat?"

"I made some muffins while you were sleeping," Sakura said. "They're on the counter, help yourselves. They're blueberry."

"Did you put nutmeg sugar on them?" Ichigo asked.

"Of course," Sakura said with a smile.

Ichigo smiled back and got out two plates, handing one to Kisshu. Then she took a muffin, and went over to the table as Kisshu took a muffin. Kisshu took a bite as he sat down, and said, "This tastes GREAT!"

"I'm glad," Sakura said. "You've never had blueberry muffins?"

"Nope," Kisshu said. He was already almost done.

"Well, you can have one more, and then that's it till lunch," Sakura said.

"Are there more brownies?" Kisshu asked.

"After Ichigo's attempts to cheer you up, no," Sakura said.

Kisshu's ears drooped, and Ichigo giggled. Sakura smiled and said, "I'm making something new today, so it'll be ready after dinner. And I'm not telling you what it is, you have to wait and see."

"Aww…" Kisshu said. He was almost finished with his second muffin. "Koneko-chan, what should we do today?" he asked.

"Go to a park?" Ichigo suggested.

"Okay, but remember your pendant and cell phone, we need to be careful," Kisshu said.

"I will," Ichigo said. "And you should get one of your pills. Let's go get cleaned up, and then we can go."

"K," Kisshu said. "You can take a shower first."

"Thanks," Ichigo said with a smile. She went upstairs as Kisshu took his plate to the sink.

**I wonder what will happen while they're at the park… Review, and I'll update!**


	23. The Park

**Kitten Love Chapter 23:**

**The Park**

Kisshu and Ichigo were walking to the park; it was a nice day out. They had decided on Inohara Park, which was a ways away, but worth it. "What's your favorite spot in Inohara Park?" Ichigo asked Kisshu.

"That big sakura tree," Kisshu said. "It's so pretty."

"That's my favorite spot too," Ichigo said. "I love that tree."

"I like most trees, there aren't that many on my planet," Kisshu said. "I heard that the bigger the tree, the older it is."

"Yep," Ichigo said. "The sakura tree in Inohara Park is probably about four hundred years old."

"Wow…" Kisshu said.

They reached the gates of the park and went in, headed for the tree. They were just coming through the forest that led to the clearing when they heard someone shout, "Touch her and we'll take you down!"

"Uh-oh…." Kisshu said. "You know who that sounded like?"

"Miwa, which means I'd better transform," Ichigo sighed. She took out her pendant and transformed as Kisshu forced his cat ears and tail to come out. Then Kisshu took Ichigo's hand and teleported to the tree.

The Crimson Warrior and Mint appeared to be about to attack Moe and Miwa, both of whom seemed strangely calm. "Are you guys okay?" Ichigo called out.

"We're fine, but they aren't going to be soon," Moe said. "They said they're going to take you down. Not happening. And we've got an idea, so sit back and enjoy the show."

Miwa seemed to take her cue from this, because she looked at Mint and said, "Hey Birdy, I don't think you can hit me."

Mint turned red and screamed, "I'm going to destroy you!" She took out her bow and aimed it at Miwa, then started shooting arrows at her. Every single one missed.

"Your plan isn't working," Miwa commented as she dodged another badly-aimed arrow. The Crimson Warrior tried to run over, but Moe stood in the way. Kisshu took out his swords, but Ichigo grabbed his arm and whispered, "Don't, remember what I said about their 'destroy' mode. If it looks like they're going to get killed, then we step in."

Kisshu reluctantly let his swords disappear, and watched as Moe smirked at the Crimson Warrior. "Can you attack?" she asked. "Or are you afraid?"

The Crimson Warrior snarled and took out his sword. Moe watched as he charged, and then kicked his arm as she sidestepped his lunge. The sword fell as he howled in pain. Moe picked up the sword and asked, "Can I keep this? It's nice."

"NO! It's MINE!" the Crimson Warrior shouted.

"Not anymore!" Moe said in a sing-song voice. This served to make the Crimson Warrior even angrier, and he launched himself at Moe, then stopped short as she held out his sword. "Nice, if you hadn't stopped, you'd be impaled on my sword," Moe said.

"IT'S NOT YOURS! IT'S MINE!" the Crimson Warrior shouted angrily.

Moe ignored him and called, "Miwa, do you need this, or can I keep it?"

"You can keep it," Miwa said. "Birdy's running out of steam anyways."

The Crimson Warrior looked up at that, and sure enough, Mint was starting to tire out. And she still hadn't hit Miwa once. The Crimson Warrior flew up and grabbed Mint, saying, "We'll be back!" Then he teleported away.

Moe looked at the sword that he had forgotten, and said, "This is COOL!"

Miwa came over, as did Kisshu and Ichigo.

"I didn't realize you two were THIS amazing," Kisshu commented.

"We know the key to defeating people is making them too angry to think straight," Miwa said. "That's why we were taunting them, rather than flat out attacking."

"Wow…" Ichigo said. "You realize you can't take that sword home, right?"

"Whyyyy?" Moe moaned.

"If the Crimson Warrior comes to find it, it'll put your family in danger," Ichigo explained. "And what are you going to tell your family anyways? You found it in the park? They'll never believe that. And they'll ask around to see if someone lost it."

"Point taken," Moe sighed. "What's your suggestion for it then?"

"Take it to Keiichiro," Kisshu said. "All of you grab on, I'll teleport you."

The girls obeyed, and Kisshu teleported to the basement, where they found Keiichiro staring at the computers. He jumped when they teleported in.

"What happened?" he asked. "And… aren't you two Ichigo's school friends?"

"They just made Mint and the Crimson Warrior retreat," Kisshu said. "And Moe stole his sword. We thought we'd bring the sword to you so Moe doesn't have to bring it home."

Keiichiro's jaw was on the floor. "Are you two human?" he asked.

"Yep, but Birdy said Ichigo was going down, so we had to take her down," Miwa said. "It didn't work out quite the way we wanted it to, but they retreated, so I guess that's good enough for now. We can always kill them later."

"You two are scaring me…." Keiichiro said.

"You sound like the principal," Moe said. "We told him he should be glad we didn't send Aoyama a death threat, and he said, "Okay, now you two are scaring me."

"Why would you send Aoyama a death threat?" Keiichiro asked.

"He broke Ichigo's heart, so we beat him up," Moe said. "But we decided against the death threat we wrote- mainly because he disappeared. Good riddance to bad rubbish."

"Um… why go that far?" Keiichiro asked.

"Anyone who hurts Ichigo goes down," Miwa said. "The last girl who tried it didn't get off too badly; only one broken arm. But she deserved it, cause she made Ichigo cry. We were pretty disappointed when the principal told us she didn't have a concussion."

"NO ONE hurts Ichigo and gets away with it," Moe said. "Today I think Birdy and that guy in red wanted hostages, but oh well. We're not the type to get captured willingly."

"Good, because now they'll probably be out to get you as well," Keiichiro sighed. "Just be careful. I'll take care of the sword, you all should head home."

"K," Ichigo said. She detransformed, and Kisshu let his cat features disappear. Then they all went outside, and went their separate ways.

**I know it's insanely short, and I'm sorry, but I'm in need of new battle and/or fluff ideas, so if you've got something, please let me know. Review!**


	24. A New Ally

**Kitten Love Chapter 24:**

**A New Ally **

When Kisshu and Ichigo got home, Sakura came out of the kitchen and asked, "Did you have a nice time?"

"Not exactly," Ichigo sighed.

"Uh-oh, what happened?" Sakura asked.

"We were headed for that big sakura tree, and we heard Miwa shout something about taking someone down," Kisshu said. "Ichigo transformed, because we figured that they had met up with Mint and the Crimson Warrior. Turns out they didn't need help at all. Miwa got Mint so angry that she used up all her energy shooting arrows that kept missing Miwa, and Moe stole the Crimson Warrior's sword. Then we took them and the sword to Keiichiro, and came back here."

"Moe stole the Crimson Warrior's SWORD!?" Sakura asked in horror.

"Yep, but we told her to leave it with Keiichiro, because her parents would have a fit if she brought it home," Ichigo said.

"I really hope those two haven't gotten in over their heads," Sakura said.

"I hope not too," Ichigo sighed. "But I'm impressed with their strategy. They made their opponents too mad to think straight, and then defeated them. I have the world's best friends…."

"I'll say," Sakura said.

Suddenly Ichigo's cell phone rang, and Ichigo picked up, since it was Keiichiro. "Another attack?" she asked.

"_Yes, and it looks like your inhuman friends are there; Mint is attacking the mall again," _Keiichiro said.

"On it," Ichigo said, and hung up. "Kisshu, apparently the mall is getting attacked again, and Keiichiro said Moe and Miwa are there," she said. "Let's go."

Kisshu made his cat features pop out while Ichigo transformed, and then teleported her to the mall.

Sure enough, Mint was there, but it didn't seem like the Crimson Warrior was around. However, Moe and Miwa were also there, and they were taunting Mint. Like before, she was getting angry, and therefore missing every shot. Ichigo and Kisshu ran over just as Mint dived at Moe. Moe looked up and watched her, and just before Kisshu and Ichigo reached them, and Mint almost got Moe, Moe sidestepped, and kicked Mint in the side. Mint cried out, and Moe promptly grabbed her, then flung her into a nearby trash can. "So where's your boyfriend?" Moe asked Mint. "Doesn't he usually come?"

"He's NOT my boyfriend, and since you stole his sword, he's currently trying to find it," Mint said. "He can't fight without it."

"Good to know," Kisshu said. "Anything else we should know?"

"He's not going to kill you, Kisshu," Mint said. "He's settled for keeping you out of commission till Ichigo is dead."

"What is THAT supposed to mean?" Kisshu asked. "I'm fine. I can still fight, so how does he expect to 'keep me out of commission'?"

Mint flew up and said, "You'll find out." Then she flew away.

Ichigo sighed. "I guess we'll have to be careful," she said.

Suddenly a voice behind them asked, "Kisshu?"

They spun, startled, and saw Kaien behind them. Kisshu and Ichigo flinched. Noticing this, Moe and Miwa both took on defensive positions. Kaien noticed and said, "I'm not going to hurt you, if that's why you look nervous. But what's going on? You acted like you knew that girl with the wings."

"If we tell you, we'll have to kill you afterwards," Moe said.

"In other words, this is really serious, and I could be putting you in danger if I tell anyone?" Kaien asked.

"Yes," Ichigo said. "And 'anyone' would include even people you trust with your life. Because while you may trust them, we most likely won't."

"I understand, and if you do tell me, I promise not to tell anyone," Kaien said. "It's up to you whether or not to tell me, though."

Ichigo and Kisshu looked at each other, then sighed, and Kisshu said, "I guess it's okay, but we have to go somewhere else. Meet us here, Ichigo and I have to go find somewhere to get back to normal. We'll be back."

"Okay," Kaien said.

Moe and Miwa looked at each other, then said, "We'll keep an eye on him."

"Have fun," Ichigo said, and she and Kisshu went into a small alleyway. Ichigo detransformed, and Kisshu made his cat features disappear. Then they went back out cautiously. No one seemed to notice them, so they went back to where they had left Kaien, Moe and Miwa, and saw Moe and Miwa seemingly interrogating Kaien, who looked nervous.

"We're back," Ichigo called out as they walked over.

"Good timing," Miwa said. "We were just about done."

"With what?" Kisshu asked.

"Making sure Kaien won't tell," Miwa said. "He knows what's going to happen if he does breathe a word about what you choose to tell him, right?"

"I'll be beaten to the point of almost dead," Kaien said gloomily. "And they'll make sure I never do kendo again."

"Good, you remembered," Moe said. "Have fun, Miwa and I have to get home."

"We'll be fine," Kisshu said. He turned to Kaien and said, "We should probably go home, you can come with us."

"You live together?" Kaien asked, as Ichigo took out her cell phone and called home.

"Ichigo's parents adopted me," Kisshu explained.

Ichigo came over and said, "Mom's on her way, I explained that we can't teleport without being seen. Kaien, you're going to have to sit up front, I need to sit with Kisshu."

"I hate cars," Kisshu grumbled.

"I know, but if we don't get a ride, we risk being found out," Ichigo said. "Don't worry, I'll sit with you."

"What's wrong with cars?" Kaien asked.

"They're small, enclosed spaces that move," Kisshu said unhappily. "I hate them. It makes me nervous being inside one."

Sakura pulled up and rolled down her window. "Let's go," she said. "Kisshu, the time's almost up."

Kisshu gulped, and got in. "Mom, Kaien's getting the front seat, Kisshu still can't handle cars," Ichigo said.

"Okay," Sakura said. Ichigo looked at Kaien, who got in the front, while Ichigo got in the back, then clicked in.

Kisshu was looking very unhappy, and Ichigo said softly, "Close your eyes, that helps, right?"

Kisshu just sighed, leaning his head on Ichigo's shoulder. She started stroking his hair, and he calmed down as Sakura drove them back home. As usual, Kisshu was asleep before they got home.

Sakura pulled into the driveway, and Ichigo shook Kisshu gently, saying, "Kishy, time to wake up."

Kisshu opened his eyes, and said, "I guess that wasn't horrible."

"It probably helped that you slept through most of it," Sakura said as they all got out. They all went inside, and saw Shintaro looking unhappy. "MORE boys?" he asked.

"Oh, honestly, Kisshu's not allowed to have friends?" Ichigo asked. "Dad, I thought you went soft."

"Kaien's the only guy at school who doesn't hate me," Kisshu said.

"Fine… you can go talk in your room, I'd like to read the paper in peace," Shintaro grumbled.

Ichigo sighed and said, "Kisshu, let's go to your room, I think mine will freak Kaien out."

"Why?" Kisshu asked.

"It's solid pink," Ichigo said. "Everything in there is pink."

"Oh… my room it is," Kisshu said. "Come on, Kaien."

Kaien followed them upstairs, and when they were upstairs, he asked, "What did Mrs. Momomiya mean by 'the time's almost up', Kisshu?"

"You'll see," Kisshu said. "Ichigo, what time is it?"

"You've got five minutes, it's 4:55," Ichigo said.

"I'm confused," Kaien said.

"You know now that Ichigo is Mew Ichigo, right?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah…" Kaien said.

"What do you think I am?" Kisshu asked. "I don't think boys can be Mew Mews."

Kaien's eyes widened, and he said, "So you're an alien?"

"Yep," Kisshu said. "My brother developed a type of medicine that changes our ears to human ears, but it only lasts for ten hours. At 5:00, my ears will start to go back to normal- or at least, normal for me."

"I thought the Mews and aliens were fighting," Kaien commented.

"We formed a truce a while ago," Ichigo said. "Kisshu's planet was dying, and we had the means to save it, so we formed a truce, and gave them the means to save their planet. Unfortunately, they got exiled because part of the truce was killing their evil leader to keep him from taking over Earth. If I hadn't killed him, the Earth would most likely be destroyed, and human life as we know it would cease to exist."

"Um… who was the alien's leader?" Kaien asked.

"Let's just say the kendo team wasn't entirely wrong about me," Ichigo said. "And while it's good Moe and Miwa took care of that little problem, at the time, they didn't know."

"So that's why Aoyama disappeared?" Kaien asked. "He wasn't human?"

"Nope," Kisshu said. "I wish _I _could have been the one to kill him…"

"Um… why didn't you?" Kaien asked. "Why leave it to Ichigo?"

"Because while I was fighting, he killed me," Kisshu said gloomily. "And before you ask, I am not a ghost, Koneko-chan gave up her life to save mine, and then I used a substance that we discovered to bring her back to life."

"Kishy wasn't very happy with me when I woke up," Ichigo sighed.

"I have a feeling you'd feel the same," Kisshu said. "But you'd probably get sad rather than angry."

"Yup," Ichigo said. "You know me pretty well."

"So what was with the attack today, and why was it aimed at Moe and Miwa?" Kaien asked.

"The girl is Mew Mint, she switched sides after we got her into jail for trying to kill me," Ichigo said. "And she's after Moe and Miwa because they creamed her and her partner, the guy in red."

Kaien's jaw dropped. "Those two creamed a guy with a sword?" he asked. "Jeez, I'd better stay out of their way."

"As long as you don't hurt us or tell anyone what we're telling you, they're actually pretty harmless," Ichigo said. "But do the two things I mentioned, and they'll go berserk."

"And I'll end up dead," Kaien said. "I kind of got the picture when Miwa said that she and Moe would take me down harder than the captain of the kendo team and the captain of the martial arts team put together. I almost feel sorry for Hayate, he had to opt out of two meets and one tournament because of the injuries he got from Moe and Miwa- one of which was a sprained wrist."

"Don't tell them you feel pity, or you'll get beaten up anyways," Ichigo said. "I think they rather enjoy it."

"Judging by the look on their faces when Hayate started screaming for mercy, I'd say you're right," Kaien said. "Did they tell you the lunch lady ran for it when she saw them?"

"They just said that she hid," Ichigo said. "That's why I'm glad they're not someone else's friends. I don't find them scary, even when they're beating someone up, but the others find them scary. It's nice to have friends who care so much."

"That does sound nice," Kaien said. Suddenly loud music started playing from his pocket, successfully causing both Kisshu and Ichigo's cat features to pop out. Kaien opened his phone and said, "Hi Mom. No, I'm at the Momomiya's. I met Kisshu at the mall, and he and Ichigo invited me over for a while. Can you come get me?"

He seemed to get a response, then said, "Okay, see you soon." He snapped the phone shut and said, "My mom's coming to get me, I don't live anywhere nearby. I swear not to tell anyone, and if my mom gets nosy, which happens a lot, I'll tell her I was trying to recruit you for kendo, Kisshu."

"Thanks," Kisshu said. "I still hate kendo."

Kaien smiled slightly, and said, "Ichigo, you've got a bow on your tail."

"It's still out?" Ichigo asked, sighing.

"Yeah, and so is Kisshu's," Kaien said.

Kisshu scowled, and said, "I hate this…."

Ichigo reached over and rubbed his ears, calming him down, and causing him to start purring. She was surprised to feel someone rubbing her cat ears, but started purring as Kisshu's ears and tail went away. She looked over, and saw that it was Kaien rubbing her ears. "So you both can purr?" he asked.

"Yeah…" Ichigo said. "I like being petted, but I don't like people touching my tail. It's sensitive, since it's attached to my spine. Rubbing Kisshu's ears makes him sleepy, but he gets irritated when they come out, so it's my way of calming him down."

Kaien took his hands away from Ichigo's ears, and they disappeared. "Kisshu, why do you hate having cat genes?" he asked.

"I'm tired more often, and I hate my tail," Kisshu grumbled. "The only nice thing is Ichigo rubbing my ears."

"I think I'd hate having a tail too," Kaien said.

"It's not fun," Ichigo sighed.

They heard the doorbell ring, and Kaien said, "Probably my mom. I'd better go. I promise to keep all that a secret, and I hope I'll see you soon."

"Thanks," Kisshu said. "We'll walk you out."

They got up, and walked out to the front door with Kaien.

**Yay! I finally got a new idea for Kitten Love! I hope you're all happy with me now. Review!**


	25. An Unexpected Twist

**Kitten Love Chapter 25:**

**An Unexpected Twist**

The next few days were pretty uneventful. School wasn't too bad either; the results of the assembly were kicking in, and the other students pretty much left Ichigo, Kisshu, Moe and Miwa alone.

There weren't any problems with the kendo team either; Kaien had kept his promise and not told anyone about Kisshu and Ichigo, therefore, no one knew Ichigo really had killed Aoyama.

Unfortunately, the peace and quiet was about to be broken. It had started out as a normal school day, but things got really bad, really fast, at recess.

The four friends were eating on the roof again, when they heard screaming. They ran to the railing and looked down to see the Crimson Warrior and Mint attacking as students ran into the building.

"Great…" Ichigo sighed.

"Hey, how'd he get his sword back?" Moe asked.

"Even worse," Ichigo said gloomily. "And Kisshu can't fight."

"Why not!?" Kisshu asked.

"You'll get recognized," Ichigo said.

"So will Moe and Miwa," Kisshu pointed out. "I might as well just get out my swords and fight without flying or teleporting. Do you think you can fight without transforming?"

"Most likely," Ichigo said.

"Then let's go," Moe said, and ran for the outside stairs. The others followed her, Kisshu summoning his swords as he ran.

When they reached the schoolyard, Mint and the Crimson Warrior turned, then attacked them. "Moe, Miwa, Ichigo, handle Birdy, I'll deal with him," Kisshu said.

"Got it," Ichigo said, and turned to Mint. Mint, yet again, started shooting arrows at her, Moe and Miwa. They kept dodging, as Moe said, "Hey Birdy, bet you can't catch us!"

"I've gotten better, you don't stand a chance as humans," Mint said.

"Oh? Then why can't you hit us?" Miwa asked, smirking. "Your aim is terrible! My grandma could do better, and she's almost totally blind!"

Mint turned red and started shooting arrows even faster. Her aim kept getting worse, however, until dodging her was child's play for the girls.

Meanwhile, Kisshu was fighting the Crimson Warrior. As he dodged another poorly aimed thrust, he asked, "So why are you helping Mint? She's completely useless."

"She managed to get my sword back," the Crimson Warrior said.

"That's it?" Kisshu asked. "She's getting her butt kicked by three human girls."

The Crimson Warrior looked over- and Kisshu took that as an opportunity to wrench his sword out of his hand. He caught the sword one-handed, and called, "Moe! I got it back!"

Moe ran over, dodging another arrow, and took the sword. "Thanks!" she said happily. The Crimson Warrior looked nervous as Kisshu and Moe advanced on him with their swords. Then he snarled, "You win for today. But this is far from over!" He then flew up, grabbed Mint, and teleported.

The four friends sighed, then looked at Moe, who looked insanely happy with her new sword. "I wish I could take this home…." she said wistfully.

"What would you do with it?" Kisshu asked.

"Learn swordfighting," Moe said.

"I guess I could teach you, provided he doesn't take it away first," Kisshu said, pointing at the principal, who was coming over with two police officers.

"We're screwed," Ichigo commented.

The principal reached them, and asked, "Are you four INSANE!?"

"Seriously, it took you this long to notice?" Miwa asked. "Good thing you didn't decide to pursue a career in therapy…."

"I cannot believe the four of you just defeated those two," one of the police officers said. "Are you human?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Kisshu said.

"'Pretty much'?" the other police officer asked. "What is that supposed to mean?"

The girls facepalmed as Kisshu looked a bit nervous.

The principal rubbed his forehead and said, "I have a feeling this is going to be a loooong day…."

"You did tell us we could protect the school," Miwa said.

"I meant from bullies, not weird people with weapons!" the principal said in exasperation.

"Next time, be more specific," Moe said. "Do you like my new sword?"

"You are NOT keeping that thing," the principal and the police officers said together.

"Um… you should let her keep it," Ichigo said. "She'll be sulking all day if you don't, and then her parents will call the school, and start in on you because she'll be muttering about how awful you are."

"Her parents are going to kill me AND her if I let her bring that sword home!" the principal moaned. "Why me?"

"I think that's besides the point, Mr. Izika," one of the police officers said. "We need to find out what he meant by 'pretty much human'."

"Kisshu, would you care to explain that statement?" the principal asked.

"Uh… not so much," Kisshu said.

"Let's make Keiichiro do it," Ichigo suggested.

"Good idea, otherwise the lot of us will be toast," Kisshu said. "Call him."

Ichigo got out her cell phone, ignoring the principal and the police's odd looks. She found Keiichiro's number, and hit Send.

After two rings, she heard, _"Ichigo, why aren't you in school?"_

"I AM in school, and Mint and her new friend attacked us," Ichigo said. "And now the principal and the police want to know what's going on, and I would appreciate it if you would come save us."

"_I'm on my way," _Keiichiro sighed, and hung up.

"Care to explain this?" the principal asked mildly.

"Keiichiro can, he'll be here in about ten minutes," Ichigo said. "I'd prefer to have him here, because Kisshu and I will make a mess of the explanation."

"Oh, fine," the principal said.

Ten minutes later, Keiichiro pulled up and got out of his car, then came over and said, "Ichigo, do you attract trouble?"

"Apparently," Ichigo said. She turned to the principal and said, "Is there some kind of conference room in the school? I don't think your office is big enough for eight people."

"Yes, follow me," the principal said. Everyone followed him to a large room in the school that had a table and a bunch of chairs in the middle. The principal closed the door after them, and waited as everyone settled down. Then he asked, "Alright, so what's the story?"

"If I tell you, you can't tell the general public, or Kisshu and Ichigo will most likely die," Keiichiro said. "And I'm sure you don't want that- right?"

One of the police officers sighed. "Fine, we'll keep it confidential."

Keiichiro nodded, and said, "You heard about Tokyo Mew Mew and the aliens, right?"

"Yes," the principal said.

"I helped create Tokyo Mew Mew," Keiichiro said. "The first Mew was Ichigo here."

"Ichigo is Mew Ichigo?" the principal said.

"Yes," Keiichiro said. "And the reason the alien attacks stopped was that we formed a truce with the aliens."

"I'm guessing that means Kisshu is an alien?" the principal asked. "There were only girls on the team Tokyo Mew Mew."

"Yes, Kisshu is an alien," Keiichiro sighed. "And he's living with Ichigo's family, because they adopted him. I took in his two brothers, but Kisshu and Ichigo didn't want to be separated, so Mrs. Momomiya took Kisshu in and kept her overprotective husband from having a fit."

"Okay, so what about Moe and Miwa?" the principal asked.

"We're human, we just have a rather unusual outlook," Miwa said. "Anyone who hurts Ichigo or Kisshu gets taken down by us. It's that simple."

"Didn't you two get questioned on the disappearance of Aoyama Masaya?" one of the police officers asked.

"Yes, I guess somebody saw us beating him to a pulp after the jerk broke Ichigo's heart," Miwa said. "Too bad, we had to leave him alive."

"So he is still alive?" the officer asked.

"Um…. no," Keiichiro said. "Aoyama wasn't human; he was the alien leader's host. So actually, Ichigo killed him- or rather, she killed the aliens' leader, because by that point, Aoyama had ceased to exist. And before you say she should be questioned, you should know that had she left him alive, the world would have been destroyed, and human life would cease to exist. So she shouldn't be arrested, because she saved us all."

"I have a headache," the principal said.

"That's nice," Miwa said. "Any interest in Birdy and the red jerk?"

"I take it you mean the two who attacked us today?" the principal asked.

"Yup," Miwa said. "You can have aspirin after we're done."

Kisshu, Ichigo, and Moe started snickering as the principal glared at Miwa. Keiichiro sighed and said, "The girl is Mew Mint; she was put in jail for trying to kill Ichigo, but apparently the guy in red, who calls himself the Crimson Warrior, broke her out and offered her freedom in return for helping him take over the world."

"She's Aizawa Mint?" the police officer asked.

"Yup," Ichigo said. "She is only after me, but the Crimson Warrior is trying to take over the world."

"So why is she after you?" the principal asked.

"She's seriously jealous that I love Ichigo and not her," Kisshu said. "Though why she thinks killing Ichigo will make me love her is beyond me."

The police sighed. "Alright, we'll keep this quiet," one said. "We have to go back to the office now, but we can just tell our supervisor that we took care of things. And I'm certain Mr. Izika will keep quiet too."

"I will," the principal said. He turned to the four friends and said, "You might as well get your stuff off the roof and go home, the bell will ring in about fifteen minutes."

"K," Ichigo said. She and the others got up and walked out with Keiichiro.

**I know it's a bad chapter ending. I'm also sorry I didn't work on Depression today. Maybe tomorrow. Review plz!**


	26. Swords

**Kitten Love Chapter 26:**

**Swords**

The next day was Saturday, and Kisshu and Ichigo met Moe and Miwa in Inohara Park, and they sat down under the sakura tree to talk.

"Keiichiro took my sword again," Moe complained.

"Hey, at least the police didn't take it," Kisshu said. "Which reminds me, didn't you want to learn sword fighting?"

"Yep," Moe said. "I like swords."

"I can probably teach you the basics," Kisshu said. "I'm better with two swords, but I can fight with one as well. Let's go to the Café, and we can ask Keiichiro if you can take the sword for a while."

"Okay!" Moe said happily.

Kisshu smiled and said, "Everyone grab on."

The girls obeyed, and Kisshu teleported them to Café Mew Mew, landing in the main room. "I guess he's in the basement," Kisshu said, and led the way to the stairs. When they got to the door, Kisshu knocked.

"Who is it?" Keiichiro called.

"It's us," Ichigo called. She opened the door, and Keiichiro looked up.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Do you have the Crimson Warrior's sword still?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah, why?" Keiichiro asked.

"Moe wants to learn sword fighting," Kisshu said. "I can probably teach her some, but I figured I'd let her use the sword she stole, since mine are meant to be used at the same time."

"That thing is huge!" Keiichiro said.

"Your point?" Moe asked.

Keiichiro sighed. "Just don't tell your parents," he said. "I don't want to get arrested, since we'd have no one to use my equipment if that happened."

"Pai could, but that's probably besides the point," Kisshu said.

"I won't tell my parents," Moe said. "They'd freak anyways."

Keiichiro just sighed again and went to the wall, pressing a button on it. A panel opened up, and Keiichiro took the sword out. "I can't believe I'm letting a thirteen-year-old walk off with a sword," he muttered.

"I'm fourteen," Kisshu commented. "But then again, I started training when I was seven."

"Wow…" Moe said.

Keiichiro handed her the sword, and said, "Try not to kill yourself or something."

"I won't let that happen," Kisshu said. "You sound like Pai. He's such a worrywart."

"Where are we doing this?" Moe asked.

"Let's go back to the park, Keiichiro will have a fit if we do it upstairs," Kisshu said. "Grab on."

The girls obeyed, and Kisshu teleported back to the park, this time to a more secluded area. As soon as they landed, Kisshu said, "Miwa, Ichigo, you should back up some. There's a bench over there."

"K," Ichigo said, and she and Miwa went to sit on the bench as Kisshu turned to Moe. "Let me see the sword," he said. Moe handed it over, and Kisshu took it, testing the weight of it while looking at the blade. "Is this at all too heavy for you?" he asked.

"No, it feels fine," Moe said.

"Okay," Kisshu said. "The blade seems fine. I was checking to make sure the Crimson Warrior hadn't done anything weird to it, like poisoning it." He handed the blade back, and said, "You need to hold that with two hands, whether it feels light or not. With a blade that big, it'll be easier for your opponent to get it away from you if you don't have a firm grip on it. Weight isn't the only factor here; you also have to think about size."

Moe had been holding it one-handed, but she put her other hand around the hilt as well. Kisshu came over and looked at the way she was holding it, then adjusted her hands a bit. "Two-handed swords are harder to use than one-handed swords," he told her. "It's probably going to be tempting to take one hand off, but you can't." Kisshu took out his swords, and said, "Try lunging at me."

Moe raised her sword a bit, and lunged at Kisshu, who dodged, then asked, "Do you have enough strength to lift that sword over your head, then try to bring it down?"

"I can try," Moe said. She lifted the sword over her head, then started to bring it down. Kisshu raised his swords in an 'X', preparing to catch her blade, but was startled when she changed direction and aimed for his chest instead. He flew back, then smiled. "You're good at this," he said.

_**Meanwhile, with Miwa and Ichigo: **_Miwa and Ichigo were watching this, when Miwa heard Ichigo make a small sound. She turned- and saw that Ichigo's eyes had gone blank, and she was shaking. Miwa reached out and shook Ichigo, but didn't get any response. Worried, she shouted, "Kisshu! Something's wrong with Ichigo!"

Kisshu held up a hand, stopping Moe, then turned and ran over. Ichigo's eyes were still blank, and Kisshu asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know, we were watching you two, and she made a sound, sort of like a whimper, and when I turned, her eyes had gone blank," Miwa said. "I don't know what happened."

Kisshu looked worried, and asked, "Did she make the sound before or after Moe tried that attack?"

"Right when Moe switched the direction of her sword," Miwa said.

"I know what happened," Kisshu said grimly. "That's the move Deep Blue used to kill me. She's gone into shock from remembering that."

"What do we do?" Miwa asked.

"I'll call Pai, you go explain to Moe what happened," Kisshu said, and closed his eyes as Miwa ran to Moe.

Pai teleported in a few minutes later, and asked, "Okay, what happened?"

"I was teaching Moe how to use a sword, and she somehow used the exact same move Deep Blue used to kill me," Kisshu said. "Ichigo saw, and I think she went into shock from remembering that."

Pai put a hand on Ichigo's forehead as Moe and Miwa came back over. His hand began to glow, and then he tapped her forehead. Ichigo's eyes went back to normal, but she looked scared. "Kisshu?" she asked.

"I'm right here, are you okay?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo threw herself at him, hugging him as she buried her face in his shoulder. Kisshu hugged back, tightening his grip as he felt her shoulders shaking. "I'm fine, don't worry," he said softly. Over her head he said, "Moe, I think the sword lessons are going to be a bad idea. I'm sorry, but I want you to switch back to hand-to-hand fighting."

Moe sighed, but said, "Okay."

Kisshu nodded, and said, "I think I should take Ichigo home, do you two want to come, or go home?"

"I think I'll go home," Miwa said. "Moe, maybe you should go with Kisshu and Ichigo."

"K," Moe said.

Kisshu picked up Ichigo bridal style, and said, "Moe, grab my shoulder."

Moe obeyed, and Kisshu teleported to the living room. Sakura was in there, and she looked up, startled. "What happened?" she asked worriedly.

"I was teaching Moe how to use a sword, and she somehow replicated the move Deep Blue used to kill me," Kisshu said. "Ichigo apparently went into shock from remembering, so I called Pai, and he woke her up. I told Moe no more sword lessons, it doesn't seem to be very good for Ichigo. I'm going to take Ichigo upstairs to rest."

"Okay," Sakura said. "Is she going to be okay?"

"I think she just needs to rest, and I need to be there," Kisshu said. "Moe, are you coming?"

"Hai," Moe said. She followed Kisshu upstairs and watched as he gently tucked Ichigo into their bed.

"You can have the desk chair," Kisshu told Moe softly. Moe sat down as Kisshu settled on the bed and started stroking Ichigo's hair. She leaned into his hand a bit, but didn't start purring like usual.

"I'm sorry about this," Moe said softly.

"You didn't know, it's not your fault," Kisshu said. "It's too bad we can't continue, I think you'd get pretty good. I don't think any beginner I've seen would have tried that move. You're already really good at hand-to-hand fighting, though, so I think that will have to do it."

"I just hope the Crimson Jerk doesn't get his sword back," Moe said. "I do wonder what Birdy meant by him 'keeping you out of commission', though."

"Me too," Kisshu said. "It's strange, because I feel fine."

"What if whatever is supposed to keep you out of commission would only appear in battle?" Moe suggested. "They want to keep you from fighting, and protecting Ichigo."

"Does that mean Ichigo's going to die like in my dream?" Kisshu asked.

"No, because now you've got me and Miwa," Moe said. "We've always protected Ichigo; we're not going to stop because some weirdoes decide they want her dead. We're not afraid of those jerks."

Kisshu smiled slightly. "Good."

They noticed that Ichigo seemed to be stirring, and Kisshu asked softly, "Koneko-chan?"

"Kishy?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm here, are you okay?" Kisshu asked.

"I think I'm fine, but what about you?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm fine, the one I'm worried about is you," Kisshu said.

"Should I leave you two alone?" Moe asked.

"Moe?" Ichigo asked, puzzled.

"Yeah," Moe said. "I'm really sorry about earlier, Ichigo. Kisshu and I have decided I'd be better off not using a sword, in case this happens again."

"Thanks…" Ichigo said. "I don't like remembering…."

"Neither do I," Kisshu said. "I don't like to remember seeing you dead."

"Wait, Ichigo died too?" Moe asked.

"I poured all my power into Kisshu to revive him, and then he used Mew Aqua to revive me," Ichigo said. "He was NOT happy with me for basically killing myself."

"I wouldn't be either," Moe said. "I don't think anyone would be."

"You're probably right," Ichigo said. "I can't live without Kishy, though."

"And I can't live without you, which is why I got so upset," Kisshu said.

Moe smiled and said, "I'll leave you two alone. I have to get home. See you Monday!"

"K," Ichigo said. "Ja ne!"

Moe smiled and left. A few minutes later, Sakura came in and said, "Ichigo, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Mom," Ichigo said. "I'm hungry though."

Sakura smiled, and said, "I made some fried fish, do you want to come down and eat?"

"Fish?" Ichigo and Kisshu asked hopefully.

"Yes, lots of fish," Sakura said, giggling. "Your cat genes are kicking in, aren't they?"

"Fish…." Ichigo said dreamily.

Sakura giggled again and said, "The fish is downstairs."

Ichigo and Kisshu jumped up and ran downstairs for fish, leaving Sakura giggling at their antics.

**Next chapter might have a surprise, but I'm not sure yet. Please review!**


	27. The Black Knight

**Kitten Love Chapter 27:**

**The Black Knight**

The next day was Sunday, and Ichigo and Kisshu were sitting in Ichigo's room when her cell phone rang. "Keiichiro," she said as she picked up. "Hey Keiichiro, what's up?"

"_Your inhuman friends are fighting Mint and the Crimson Warrior at the mall again, and I think they could use some help," _Keiichiro said.

"We're on it," Ichigo said, and hung up. "Moe and Miwa are fighting at the mall again," she told Kisshu, and transformed. "Let's go. Keiichiro thinks they need help."

"Okay," Kisshu said, forcing his cat features out again, and teleporting Ichigo to the mall.

Sure enough, Moe and Miwa were dodging attacks from Mint, but things were about to get worse. The Crimson Warrior pulled out what looked like a knife, and lunged at Miwa, who was dodging another arrow. Ichigo and Kisshu started to run over, but something sped past them in a blur. The 'blur' stopped in front of Miwa, just before the Crimson Warrior could stab her. It turned out to be a guy in a similar outfit to the Crimson Warrior's, but his was black. Another thing startled them, and that was that this guy appeared to be human, not a Cyniclon. He also had black hair in a similar style to the Crimson Warrior's, and black eyes.

"Who are YOU!?" the Crimson Warrior asked.

The guy took out a black sword, and said, "I am the Black Knight. I was born to protect Moe and Miwa."

Everyone's jaws hit the ground. Mint stopped shooting arrows, but unfortunately for her, Moe and Miwa's shock had worn off, and they jumped Mint, then started beating her up. The Crimson Warrior tried to go to her, but was stopped by the Black Knight, who started a sword fight as Ichigo and Kisshu looked on. "Jeez…" Kisshu said. "I guess if he's protecting Moe and Miwa, it explains why he appears to be human."

"I wonder who he is," Ichigo said. "The Blue Knight had a human form; what's his?"

"And if the Crimson Warrior has a human form, who is it?" Kisshu added.

"I can't think of anyone who would be the Crimson Warrior," Ichigo said. "Last time, it was someone close to me, so the Black Knight must be someone close to Moe and Miwa."

"But the whole school fears them, so is it someone outside of school?" Kisshu asked.

"I didn't think they had anyone besides family outside of school," Ichigo said.

"Wait a minute," Kisshu said. "There is one guy I can think of who might decide to protect those two."

"Kaien?" Ichigo asked softly.

"I'm not positive, but it would make sense," Kisshu said. "And so would the sword fighting; both he and the treehugger were or are on the kendo team. And the fact that he doesn't appear to be a Cyniclon suggests that he has little or nothing to do with me, my brothers, or the Mews."

"Yeah…" Ichigo said, looking over as the Crimson Warrior grabbed Mint and teleported. The Black Knight said something softly to Moe and Miwa, then vanished.

Moe and Miwa stood there a moment, then ran to Ichigo and Kisshu. "This keeps getting weirder," Moe said. "Who was that, anyways?"

"We're not exactly sure," Ichigo said. "When I had a protector, the Blue Knight, it turned out he had a human form, and that human was Aoyama."

"So you think it's someone close to us?" Miwa asked.

"Probably," Kisshu said. "The only one I can think of is Kaien, though. None of the other boys would dream of protecting you two."

"You think KAIEN is the Black Knight?" Moe asked.

"We can't think of anyone else who is close to us, knows our secret, and doesn't think you two are their worst nightmare," Ichigo said. "What puzzles me is how he might have gotten power in the first place."

"Maybe we should talk to Keiichiro," Kisshu suggested.

"What did he say to you?" Ichigo asked Moe and Miwa.

"That's what puzzles us," Miwa said. "He told us to protect Kisshu, and he'd protect us. Why he thinks Kisshu needs protection is beyond me, but we'll do our best if something happens."

"Mint said something about the Crimson Warrior keeping me out of commission," Kisshu said. "If something happens to me, it'll be easier for him and Mint to get Ichigo."

"Not necessarily," Moe said. "You guys have us, remember?"

Ichigo smiled slightly. "You're right," she said. "We all have each other. And apparently you two have the Black Knight."

"I think we should ask Keiichiro about the Black Knight," Kisshu said. "Should we go now?"

"Good plan," Miwa said. "Are we teleporting?"

"Might be a good idea," Kisshu said. "Grab on."

The girls obeyed, and Kisshu teleported to the basement of Café Mew Mew. Keiichiro was staring intently at a screen, and jumped when he heard them. "Sorry to startle you," Kisshu said. "We were wondering if you saw all that."

"Sure did," Keiichiro said. "Who is that guy?"

"He called himself the Black Knight," Moe said. "And he said he was born to protect me and Miwa."

Keiichiro looked shocked. Kisshu sighed. "I take it you have no clue who he might be or what caused him to appear?" he asked.

"No," Keiichiro said. "I did notice he appears to be human, though."

"We noticed that too," Ichigo said. "And we have a theory as to who his human form might be."

"Who do you think it is?" Keiichiro asked.

"Our friend Hino Kaien," Kisshu said. "He's the only guy we know that I think might have any interest in protecting Moe and Miwa. And like the treehugger, he's on the kendo team, which could explain the sword."

"Speaking of swords, what happened to the one I gave you?" Keiichiro asked. "And how did the sword lessons go?"

"The sword is at our house," Kisshu said. "And I canceled the sword lessons. Moe somehow used the move Deep Blue used to kill me, and even though she didn't hurt me, Ichigo went into shock from remembering, and I had to call Pai to wake her up. I told Moe she's going to have to go back to hand-to-hand fighting, because apparently her and swords aren't too good for Ichigo's state of mental health."

"That doesn't sound good," Keiichiro said. "Do you mind getting the sword back to me soon?"

"Not at all, I'll bring it by after I take Ichigo home," Kisshu said. "We should probably get back anyways, so I'll have it here soon." He turned to Moe and Miwa, and asked, "Do you need me to teleport you back to the mall?"

"Bad idea, we'll just walk home," Moe said. "We don't live that far away."

"Okay," Kisshu said. "Koneko-chan, let's go."

Ichigo smiled and took his hand. He teleported them to the living room, and Sakura came down the stairs soon after, and asked, "What happened?"

"Moe and Miwa have a protector with a sword, and we think it's Kaien," Kisshu said. "Problem is, we don't know how he got power, or if the Black Knight really is Kaien."

"On top of that, the Black Knight apparently told Moe and Miwa that they need to protect Kisshu for some reason," Ichigo said.

"That doesn't sound good," Sakura said. "Normally Kisshu's the strongest out of all of you."

"Mint told us that the Crimson Warrior plans on keeping me out of commission," Kisshu said. "I don't think Mint's going to let him kill me. Though if I'm still alive, I'm going to kill them both."

"Just be careful," Sakura said worriedly. "I don't want to lose either of you."

"You won't," Kisshu and Ichigo said together, and hugged Sakura, who hugged back.

**I KNOW it's insanely short, but I wanted to get the Black Knight in there before going on to the next part of the story, which I want to put in a different chapter. I hope you like my new OC, the Black Knight! Review plz!**


	28. Disaster!

**Kitten Love Chapter 28:**

**Disaster!**

It started out as a normal day. School wasn't horrendous for a change, and Ichigo, Kisshu, Moe and Miwa had decided to go out for ice cream after.

Before they could, though, they got called to the principal's office at the end of the day, and they all went in together. After Kisshu closed the door, the principal sighed and said, "Have a seat."

The four friends obeyed, and the principal said, "Due to Friday's events, I would like to talk with the four of you."

"We're not getting expelled, are we?" Moe asked.

"No, of course not," the principal said. "The police have kept quiet as well, and I don't intend to tell anyone either. However, the fact remains that quite a few students were watching the four of you after they got inside, and therefore saw the end result of that battle. Surprisingly, it seems that most people didn't mention it to their parents, because I only got one phone call. It was from Chanaka Kuroi's mother, and she seems to have gotten a pretty far-fetched retelling of what happened, because she claims that Kuroi's recount was that the four of you all had swords, and destroyed the two who came here. I had to tell her that that was about as far from the truth as you could get, and told her that your hand-to-hand and dodging skills caused Mew Mint and the Crimson Warrior to retreat. Luckily she accepted it, mainly because Kuroi apparently has a habit of stretching the truth."

"Can he go down for that?" Miwa asked eagerly.

"NO, you may not beat him up for telling lies to his mother, even if they're lies about you," the principal said. "I handled it, so you should leave him alone. One episode of making him cry was enough."

"That was FUN!" Miwa and Moe chorused.

"You two are maniacs," the principal muttered. "Unfortunately for me, the police found out that the two of you have an 'interesting' way of protecting your friends, and they said I had two choices. Tell you to stop, or give you free rein as long as you don't kill people. Since telling you to stop has proved pointless, since you never listen to anything I say anyways, I have decided to just let you beat people up, with two rules. You have to have a reason, even if it's just someone insulting Ichigo, and you MAY NOT kill anyone. You are not allowed to beat people up because you don't like them, they have to have done something that in your minds, at least, warrants a beating. And YES, that includes insulting Ichigo or Kisshu. Please don't disrupt class too much, either. I've sent a memo out to the staff here, and they will also give you free rein, but if it looks like someone's about to die, then they will step in. Otherwise, you won't get suspended, and you won't get detention anymore. I may set limits at times, like if one of the teams here is preparing for a game or tournament, but other than that, I've given up hope. You both are completely unstoppable, and I see no reason to waste time telling you something when you don't listen."

"YAHOO!" Moe and Miwa shouted together, which succeeded in getting Kisshu's cat features out. Kisshu groaned, and said, "Did you have to? I HATE having a tail!"

"Oops, sorry Kisshu," Moe said.

Kisshu looked sulky. Ichigo sighed and said, "If you remain upset, they won't go away."

Kisshu took a deep breath, and let it out. The cat ears and tail disappeared, and he looked happier.

The principal looked somewhat confused, and asked, "So people shouting causes you to get cat ears and a tail?"

"No, it's anything that startles us," Ichigo said. "I have more control than Kisshu does, and it doesn't help that once he gets them, he gets worked up about having a tail. Then they don't go away. I usually end up rubbing his ears to calm him down enough that they'll go away."

"Interesting," the principal said.

"Annoying is more like it," Kisshu grumbled.

"Would ice cream cheer you up?" Ichigo asked.

Kisshu perked up and asked, "Ice cream?"

"Yeah, we were going to go to that little place down the way, remember?" Ichigo asked.

"Oh yeah, where I took you for our first date," Kisshu said.

Moe and Miwa looked at the principal, and asked, "Is there anything else, or can we go get ice cream?"

"No, I think that's it for now," the principal said. "Just don't kill anyone."

"Don't worry, we won't," Miwa said with an angelic smile.

The principal just sighed as the four friends skipped out of his office.

They started walking to the ice cream shop, which was a few blocks away. However, halfway there, they heard screaming nearby. Kisshu and Ichigo ducked into a nearby alleyway and Ichigo transformed while Kisshu forced his cat features out. Then they ran out to join Moe and Miwa, who were already running to the screaming.

To their horror, the screaming was a bunch of little kids apparently on their way home. There were no adults in sight, and Ichigo sighed. "I guess we'd better lecture their parents later," she said. "Let's go." She ran over, followed by the others. The Crimson Warrior and Mint looked over, and Ichigo asked, "How low can you jerks go? Attacking little kids?"

The little kids, four girls and two boys, saw safety in Ichigo and her friends, and ran over. Unfortunately, one of the girls tripped, and Mint grabbed her, then flew out of reach. "Mei!" the others cried.

Kisshu teleported behind Mint, then summoned his swords and slashed through one of her wings. She began to fall, and Kisshu grabbed the little girl, then teleported back to the ground as the Crimson Warrior started to run to Mint. He didn't get that far. Ichigo kicked him in the side, and Moe and Miwa ran past them toward Mint, who was lying on the ground. They promptly leaped on her and started beating her to a pulp.

Ichigo was fighting the Crimson Warrior hand-to-hand; it seemed he still didn't have his sword back. Suddenly the Crimson Warrior took what looked like a dart out of thin air, and pushing Ichigo, aimed it at Kisshu. "Kisshu! Look out!" Ichigo said, as the dart sped toward him. Unfortunately, Kisshu couldn't dodge unless he wanted one of the kids to get hit, and he and Ichigo both realized that. Kisshu tried to turn away, but the dart still hit him in the arm. He yanked it out, but still began to glow, screaming once as his body started to change. "Moe! Miwa! A little help here?" Ichigo called out.

Moe and Miwa left off beating up the now-unconscious Mint, and ran to Ichigo, knocking the Crimson Warrior over and stepping on him in the process. Unfortunately, they had all been too late. Kisshu had turned into a kitten again, and appeared to be asleep. "Now what?" Ichigo asked.

"Take him to Keiichiro?" Miwa suggested.

"Let's take the kids home first," Moe said. "Ichigo, detransform."

Ichigo touched her pendant, returning to normal, and looked over to where the Crimson Warrior had been. Luckily, he had left with Mint, so Ichigo looked at the little kids. "Would you like us to walk you home?" she asked gently.

"Can you?" one of the boys asked.

"Sure," Miwa said. "Ichigo, you get Kisshu."

Ichigo picked up Neko Kisshu, who was sleeping, and asked the kids, "Where are we going?"

"We'll show you," one of the girls said. She grabbed Miwa's hand and pulled her in the direction of what looked like a mansion. Some of the other kids held on to either Ichigo's skirt or Moe's hands as they walked.

Eventually they reached the mansion, and Ichigo rang the doorbell. The door was flung open about a minute later, and a woman came out asking, "Where have you been? I've been worried sick!"

"We got attacked by those weird people from the news, and they saved us," the girl who had been pulling Miwa said. The other kids let go of Ichigo and Moe, as the woman said, "Oh thank you, thank you so much."

"You're welcome, but why were they walking home alone?" Miwa asked. "It's not exactly safe with all the attacks lately."

"They were _supposed _to stay here, but they snuck out, and I was just about to call the police when you brought them back," the woman said. "I'm sorry you had to protect them, are you okay?"

"We're fine," Ichigo said.

"Is your kitten okay?" the woman asked.

"Not quite sure, we can't tell if he's sleeping or unconscious," Ichigo said. "We weren't exactly watching him while we were fighting off the weirdoes."

"I'm a vet," the woman said. "Come with me, I'll take a look."

Ichigo looked at Moe and Miwa, who shrugged. "O-okay," Ichigo said.

The woman noticed her hesitation and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Kisshu is allergic to most medicines, and getting blood drawn makes him dizzy," Ichigo said. "He's kind of an unusual kitten."

"I don't think he'll need either," the woman said. "I just want to see whether he's okay, I don't need to draw blood for that."

"Okay," Ichigo said. She, Moe and Miwa followed the woman inside as she said, "You kids play quiet for a while, and if you sneak out again, you're grounded, understand?"

"Yes," the kids said. Then they ran off as the woman said, "I'm Dr. Taika, what are your names?"

"I'm Ichigo, and these are my friends, Moe and Miwa," Ichigo said.

"It's nice to meet you," Dr. Taika said. "Come with me."

The girls followed her to a room that looked like a cross between an office and a hospital room. Dr. Taika took a stethoscope off her desk, and put on a pair of surgical gloves. Then she brought a little stool with a cushion on it over, and said, "Put him on here, please."

Ichigo carefully placed Neko Kisshu on the cushion, and Dr. Taika came over and listened to Neko Kisshu's heart. "His heartbeat is normal, I think he's just taking a nap," she said softly. "I don't see anything else wrong; he doesn't have a fever or anything like that. He's a pretty deep sleeper, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he likes sleeping," Ichigo said.

Dr. Taika smiled and asked, "Do you girls need a ride home? I noticed Taria was pulling Miwa."

"We kind of don't know where we are," Miwa admitted. "Moe and I can get home easily from Ichigo's house, could you drive us all there?"

"Sure, what's the address?" Dr. Taika asked.

"624 Ayame Street," Ichigo said.

"Okay, I know where Ayame Street is," Dr. Taika said. "Let's go get in my van."

"Thanks," Ichigo said, picking up the still-sleeping Neko Kisshu, and following Dr. Taika to her van, which was really big.

Noticing them looking at the van, she said, "With six kids, it's easier to have a big van than try to squish them all into a smaller car."

"Are they all yours, then?" Ichigo asked as Dr. Taika unlocked the van and got in.

Ichigo got in the front seat as Dr. Taika said, "Yes, they are. I adopted them, since I'm unable to have children of my own, and they were all friends at an orphanage. I love children and animals, so I figured that since they were all friends, it wouldn't be nice to separate them. They can be a handful, but I love them."

"That's wonderful," Ichigo said as Dr. Taika started up the van.

Dr. Taika drove to Ayame Street, and said, "Okay, you're going to have to point out the house. I'll go slow."

They went down the street a ways, and finally Ichigo said, "It's the next one on the left."

Dr. Taika pulled up, and the girls got out. "Thank you so much for everything," Ichigo said.

"I should be thanking you for saving my kids," Dr. Taika said with a smile. "Take care!"

"You too," the girls chorused, as Dr. Taika pulled out of the driveway. As she drove off, the girls went inside, to find Sakura and Shintaro looking rather unhappy.

"Okay, what's the story?" Shintaro asked. "And who just pulled out of our driveway?"

"She said her name is Dr. Taika, and she drove us here because we saved her kids from the Crimson Jerk and Birdy," Miwa said.

"They're attacking kids now?" Sakura asked.

"Apparently," Ichigo said. "I should call Pai, Kishy got turned into a kitten again, and he hasn't woken up. Dr. Taika said he's just sleeping, but he didn't even wake up on the car ride."

"That doesn't sound good, he hates cars," Sakura said.

Ichigo handed Kisshu to Miwa, and took her cell phone out, then scrolled through her contacts, hitting Send when she reached Pai's number.

After two rings, she heard, _"Ichigo? Did something else happen?"_

"The Crimson Warrior turned Kishy into a kitten and he's not waking up," Ichigo said. "I think he's just asleep, but he's not waking up. Can you come look?"

"_Tell your dad not to kill me, I'm on my way," _Pai said, and hung up.

"Dad, Pai says not to kill him, he's on his way to check on Kisshu," Ichigo said after closing her phone.

Shintaro sighed, but didn't argue as Pai teleported in. "Where is he?" Pai asked.

"Miwa's holding him," Ichigo said. "And he hasn't even stirred. We got a ride home from a woman whose kids we saved, and he didn't even stir when she started the van. I expected him to wake up and start freaking out."

Pai looked worried, and said, "Miwa, put him on the couch, I'll take a look. Ichigo, have you tried kissing him yet?"

"No," Ichigo said. "I can try." She took Neko Kisshu from Miwa, and kissed him on the nose. Unfortunately, nothing happened, and she sighed and put Neko Kisshu on the couch. Pai sat down next to him, and placed a finger on his chest. Five minutes later, he looked up, a grim expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo asked, scared.

"I can turn him back, but he probably won't wake up," Pai said. "He's very weak for some reason- too weak to wake up."

Ichigo's eyes widened. "In his nightmares, he mentioned being too weak to help me," she said. "And he said every time he had the dream, he felt weaker. What if his nightmare is coming true?"

"That's BAD," Pai said. "If his nightmare is coming true like this, it could mean that you could die."

"We won't let that happen," Miwa and Moe said together. "There is no way we'll let Ichigo die. Just like we won't let Kisshu die."

"I really hope so," Pai said. "I'll turn Kisshu back to normal, but it's unlikely that he'll wake up anytime soon, much less be able to go to school."

"What should we tell the school?" Sakura asked.

"Didn't you used to go on a lot of trips?" Pai asked.

"Yeah…" Shintaro said.

"Tell the school you're all going to take care of a sick friend, and go on one of your trips," Pai said. "I'll take Kisshu and Ichigo back to my ship, and take care of them."

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked.

"Hai," Pai said.

"I'm not sure I want to leave them with YOU…." Shintaro grumbled.

Pai was somewhat cold as he said, "Kisshu is my brother, and no matter what YOU may think, I do care about him, a lot. Ichigo is a good friend, and I would never harm her. I will take good care of both of them, and Ichigo is also quite capable of caring for herself, which is something you should have realized by this point."

"And the bedroom window thing?" Shintaro asked.

"Dad, give it a rest," Ichigo sighed. "Pai only did that because he didn't want to get killed by you for ringing the doorbell. Kisshu probably told him you're a complete terror, which, by the way, is probably true, and he decided he'd be better off avoiding you. And considering the fact that you hate boys and will chase people around with a real sword, I can't really blame him for wanting to avoid you. I know Pai won't hurt me or be mean to me if I stay with him, and then the kitchen won't explode."

"What does the kitchen have to do with anything?" Shintaro asked.

"Kisshu told me the last time Pai tried to cook, the oven exploded," Ichigo said. "It'll be better for all of us if I can cook for them. And you and Mom can go to Australia or something."

"It's fine with me," Sakura said. "And we do need somewhere for you two to be safe while Kisshu is unable to fight."

"Oh, fine…" Shintaro said sulkily.

"Ichigo, you'd better start packing," Pai said. "I'll turn Kisshu back to normal, then teleport you both to the ship."

"K," Ichigo said, and ran upstairs. Moe and Miwa followed, and Miwa said, "We'll miss you at school, Ichigo."

"I'll miss you too," Ichigo said. "We'll come back when Kishy is better, k?"

"You'd better," Moe said, watching as Ichigo started stuffing clothes into a suitcase. "We should get going. We hope to see you soon."

"I'll do my best," Ichigo said with a grin. She hugged Moe and Miwa together, and said, "I'll miss you."

They hugged back, then left as Ichigo got her toiletries and a few books, then put it all into the suitcase, and closed it. She then took it downstairs, where she found Pai standing next to the couch. Kisshu was lying on the couch, back to normal, but like Pai had predicted, he was still asleep. When Pai saw Ichigo, he said, "Are you ready?"

"Hai, I just have to say goodbye to Mom and Dad," Ichigo said. "Where are they?"

"We're here," Sakura called, coming in from the kitchen. "I just called Keiichiro and explained the situation. He'll keep in touch with the ship."

"Thanks," Pai said. "We should get going."

Ichigo hugged both her parents, and said, "Have fun while I'm gone!"

"We'll try," Shintaro said.

Ichigo smiled and picked up her suitcase, then turned to Pai, who had picked up Kisshu. "Grab my shoulder," Pai told Ichigo, who obeyed. Then he teleported.

They landed in Kisshu's room, and Ichigo pulled back the blankets on the bed. Pai set Kisshu down, and Ichigo took his shoes off, then pulled the blankets over him.

"Where are you going to sleep?" Pai asked.

"Is it okay for me to sleep with him?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes, and maybe that will help him wake up faster," Pai said.

"Then that's what I'll do," Ichigo said.

**I know the ending's bad, but hey, it's a long chapter. Plz review, but don't flame.**


	29. Awakening

**Kitten Love Chapter 29:**

**Awakening**

A week had passed since Kisshu had been hit by the Crimson Warrior's dart, and he was still sleeping. The only thing that proved he was still alive was his breathing. Ichigo only left his room at mealtimes, because she had to stop Pai from going in the kitchen. The rest of the time she spent in Kisshu's room, mainly reading. She did sleep with him at night, but it didn't seem to make a difference; he hadn't even stirred.

Pai spent all of his time trying to figure out how to wake Kisshu up, but hadn't come up with anything yet. While he tried to figure this out, he told Ichigo to try talking to Kisshu, which was currently what she was doing.

"It's been a week," she said softly. "I know you're right here, but I miss you, Kishy. I hope Pai finds some way of waking you up soon. Keiichiro called and said there's been a few attacks, but he sent the other Mews, and they took care of it. I guess now we know what Mint meant when she said the Crimson Warrior was going to keep you out of commission. It's hard for all of us; you've been asleep for a week, and Pai can't figure out how to wake you up. I managed to keep him out of the kitchen, though. You and Taruto were right, he's a complete disaster. I can't understand why he keeps trying…"

Ichigo trailed off, sighing. Suddenly the smoke alarm went off, and Ichigo's cat ears popped out as she jumped up. Then she ran out, not noticing that Kisshu's cat ears had popped out as well.

Ichigo ran to the kitchen as the smoke alarm kept blaring. Just as she reached the kitchen, it finally went off. She entered the kitchen, and sure enough, Pai was in there, his hands over his ears. Ichigo went over and looked at the now somewhat melted pot, then glared at Pai. "Seriously, did you have to?" Ichigo asked irritably. "I hope you realize that YOU will be cleaning that up. And how many times am I going to have to tell you to stay out of the kitchen!?"

Pai sighed, and picked up the half-melted pot by the handle. "I just wanted some oatmeal…" he said.

"Then why didn't you ask me to come make it?" Ichigo asked. "I keep telling you the same thing over and over. How come you never listen?"

"I listen, I just forget sometimes…" Pai said uncomfortably.

"Obviously," Ichigo sighed. "I'm going back to Kisshu, and if I find out you didn't clean this up by dinnertime, you're in for it."

"Fine…" Pai sighed, and put the pot in the garbage, then got out a sponge as Ichigo walked out.

She went back to Kisshu's room, and went over to the bed. As she came closer, to her shock, Kisshu opened his eyes. "Koneko-chan, why am I here?" he asked, his voice scratchy from lack of use. "The Crimson Warrior shot that dart at me, and then I don't remember anything."

"The dart turned you into a kitten, but we couldn't wake you up," Ichigo said. "Moe, Miwa and I brought you back to our house, and I called Pai to turn you back. He turned you back, but said you were too weak to wake up for some reason. You've been sleeping for a week now."

"I've been _asleep _for a _week!?" _Kisshu asked incredulously.

"Yeah, we've all been pretty worried," Ichigo said. "Pai took both of us to the ship so you'd be safe while you were unable to fight. Mom and Dad went on a trip and told the school that we had to go take care of a sick friend, and didn't know when we'd be back. How are you feeling?"

"I think I'm too weak to sit up still," Kisshu said. "And my stomach's not feeling that great right now."

"Is there a bucket around here?" Ichigo asked.

"There's one in the closet next door," Kisshu said.

"Okay," Ichigo said, and ran to the closet. She looked in, found the bucket, and ran back. She went to the bed, and helped Kisshu sit up, then put the bucket in his lap. To both of their surprise, though he was looking pretty green, he didn't throw up right away. "My stomach feels awful, but for some reason I can't seem to throw up," Kisshu said. "It's not that I want to, but I think it'll help me feel better."

"Try to relax your muscles, maybe that'll help," Ichigo said.

Kisshu tried that, but at first it didn't seem to help. He looked at Ichigo, but before he could say anything, he started feeling worse. About a minute later, he threw up into the bucket on his lap. About five minutes later, Kisshu thought he was done, but suddenly coughed. He felt his stomach lurch again, and turned back to the bucket. Then he started throwing up again.

Ichigo was holding Kisshu in a sitting position, and was getting worried. Kisshu was still throwing up, and it had been about ten minutes. It had looked like he was done five minutes ago, but then he had thrown up again, and was still throwing up. _You'd think he'd have nothing left by now, _Ichigo thought worriedly. Suddenly it looked like Kisshu was stopping, but then he made a noise in his throat, and threw up _again. _

Luckily for both of them, Pai had finished cleaning and decided to check on them. He looked shocked when he came in, and Ichigo said, "Kisshu woke up, but it looks like he can't stop throwing up for some reason. Every time it looks like he's stopping, he throws up again. And he can't sit up on his own."

Pai came over and said, "Let me see." He put a hand on Kisshu's chest, and said, "It's nothing too serious, so I can fix it. Keep holding him, Ichigo."

Ichigo obeyed as Pai put his other hand on Kisshu's stomach, and his hands began to glow. Kisshu had been coughing up more stuff, but as Pai's hands began to glow, he slowly stopped. A while later, the glow faded, and Pai took his hands away. "How's your stomach feeling now?" he asked Kisshu.

"It feels a lot better, thanks Pai," Kisshu said. "I still feel really weak, though."

"That's going to take a while longer to heal," Pai said. "And unfortunately, you can't eat till tomorrow morning at the earliest. I'm going to have to check on you before you can eat anything. It could upset your stomach again if you eat too soon."

"I'm not really hungry anyways," Kisshu said.

"That's for the best," Pai said. "I don't think I can heal the weakness, so you're going to have to tough it out. It's pretty severe this time; when you first got hit with that dart, you were too weak to wake up. Ichigo told you you've been asleep for a week, right?"

"Yeah," Kisshu said. "How are things going?"

"There have been a few attacks, but the other Mews handled them," Pai said. "Keiichiro's been keeping in touch. I should actually go tell him you woke up. Ichigo can keep you company, right?"

"Yep," Ichigo said. "What time is it, anyways?"

"About 11 at night," Pai said. "I think you should get some sleep."

"K," Ichigo said. She helped Kisshu lie back down, then said, "I've been sleeping with you, is that okay?"

"Yeah, I'm kind of tired again," Kisshu said. "Kind of hard to believe."

"You're still too weak to stay up for very long," Pai said. "I know you slept for a week, but you'll still need rest to get your strength back. So that means no late nights, and no pushing yourself. And yes, pushing yourself involves trying to get up. I know Ichigo's capable of stopping you from pushing yourself, but I'll still be in and out."

Kisshu sighed, and Ichigo ruffled his hair gently. "I'll be here," she said softly. "I'll take care of you."

"Thanks…" Kisshu said.

Ichigo noticed he was sounding a bit tired, and said, "Scoot over, I think we both could use some rest."

Kisshu obeyed, and Ichigo climbed in with him as Pai teleported out.

The next morning, Kisshu woke up before Ichigo. He still felt too weak to sit up, so he turned his head to look at Ichigo. He noticed her arms were around his waist, and he started stroking her hair, smiling when she purred. Then he noticed she was starting to wake up, and asked softly, "Koneko-chan?"

Ichigo sleepily opened her eyes. "Morning Kishy," she said. "How are you feeling?"

"Still too weak to sit up," Kisshu admitted. "I'm kind of hungry; can you ask Pai if it's okay for me to eat?"

"Sure," Ichigo said- just as the smoke alarm caused their cat features to come out. "Pai is now doomed," Ichigo said, and ran out, leaving Kisshu to wonder exactly what she meant by that.

Ichigo ran to the kitchen, and found Pai there again, trying to disable the smoke alarm. He cringed when he heard her footsteps, and asked, "I'm doomed, aren't I?"

"Yes," Ichigo said. "WHY don't you ever listen!? That's the second time in two days! At this rate, Kisshu won't get the rest he needs to recover. What did you burn this time, by the way?"

"Another pot…" Pai said sheepishly.

Ichigo facepalmed. "Go clean it up, and then you can come see if Kisshu's well enough to eat," she said. "I'll be in his room."

Pai sighed and got the sponge as Ichigo walked back to Kisshu's room. Kisshu looked up as Ichigo came in, but before he could say anything, she asked, "Do you have any paper in here?"

"Top drawer of my desk, why?" Kisshu asked.

"I need to make a sign," Ichigo said, and went over to the desk. She took out a sheet of paper, then grabbed a pen, and neatly wrote, _**'Ichigo's Kitchen. Pai, KEEP OUT!' **_

That done, she turned back to Kisshu and asked, "Do you have anything I could use to hang this up?"

"I've got duct tape and thumb tacks," Kisshu said. "Both are in the drawer to your left."

"Thanks, I think I'll use duct tape," Ichigo said. She took the duct tape out of the drawer, and took her sign to the kitchen, passing Pai on the way. She gave him an evil grin, and he gulped, then teleported. She continued on, snickering, and when she reached the kitchen, she took some of the duct tape and taped the sign to the door. Then she headed back to Kisshu's room.

When she reached the door, she heard Kisshu say, "How should I know? She just said she was making a sign! Why can't you ask her yourself?"

"She gave me this evil grin when I looked at her!" Pai moaned.

"Oh, get a life, Pai," Kisshu said. "She was probably still upset about the smoke alarm. You really should listen when Koneko-chan tells you to stay out of the kitchen. Besides, unlike someone ELSE I know, her laughter isn't cursed."

"MY LAUGHTER IS NOT CURSED, YOU LITTLE GREEN DEMON!" Pai shouted.

Kisshu groaned, and Ichigo went in, worried. Luckily he was just groaning about the fact that he had a tail again. "'Little green demon', huh Pai?" Ichigo asked. "I didn't know you were into namecalling."

"Did you curse me?" Pai asked nervously.

"Of course not," Ichigo said. "I just put a sign on the kitchen door, that's all. It's a nice sign, you should go look at it."

"What does it say?" Pai asked warily.

"Oh, you'll see," Ichigo said with an angelic smile that strangely scared Pai so much he teleported.

"Jeez," Kisshu said. "The last time I saw Pai that scared was when you called your dad that time he smirked at us."

Ichigo giggled. "He's funny, and I can't wait to hear what he has to say about my sign," she said- just as they heard Pai shout, "ICHIGO!"

"What'd the sign say?" Kisshu asked.

"It said, 'Ichigo's Kitchen. Pai, KEEP OUT!'" Ichigo said, giggling.

Kisshu started laughing as he said, "That's great!"

Pai teleported back in, bright red, and yelled, "WHY CAN'T I GET IT OFF!?"

"I used duct tape," Ichigo said. "Besides, I'm hoping that'll remind you to NOT go in my kitchen. You keep setting off the smoke alarm, and yesterday you MELTED a pot. You're a disaster, Pai."

Pai was steaming, and it didn't help when Kisshu asked, "Pai, how'd you melt a pot? You must have left the stove on High for an hour to do that."

"That pot was flimsy anyways…" Pai muttered sullenly.

"Actually, that pot was a steel saucepot which shouldn't have melted no matter what," Ichigo said. "I don't know how you manage this stuff. Did you get angry and take out your fan or something?"

"Uh…" Pai said.

Kisshu burst out laughing.

"The stove wasn't heating up!" Pai said defensively.

"Haven't you ever heard of being patient?" Ichigo asked, giggling. "Jeez, for someone who's supposed to be a genius, it doesn't seem like you have any common sense. You don't shoot lightning at a pot. I'm surprised you didn't get electrocuted. And to think you were only trying to cook oatmeal."

"Pai doesn't have any common sense," Kisshu said, still laughing. "And I think he's set some records for stupidity in the kitchen. You don't bring chemicals into the kitchen, especially when you're trying to cook pasta."

"You poisoned something?" Ichigo asked. "Jeez, you're worse than I thought."

"I didn't mean to," Pai said grouchily.

"I don't think I've ever thrown up as much as I did that night," Kisshu said. "And I only had one bite. Taruto gulped half of his, and if Pai hadn't had the energy to heal him, he'd probably be dead. That was AWFUL. Even yesterday wasn't as bad as that."

"Wow…" Ichigo said. "Did Pai heal you too?"

"No, he was a bit busy throwing up," Kisshu said. "So I was throwing up all night, and the next day I had a really bad fever, and since Pai had also eaten some, _and _healed Taruto, he couldn't heal me, and I spent a week recovering. I beat Pai up after I got better."

"Good for you," Ichigo said. "Do you want something to eat still?"

"What can I have?" Kisshu asked.

"Something light," Pai said.

"Is ramen okay?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah, sure," Pai said.

"I'll go make that," Ichigo said. "Pai, you will be staying here or going back to your lab. If you come near my kitchen, you will get blasted."

"With what?" Pai asked.

"My Strawberry Surprise attack," Ichigo said. "I have my pendant in my pocket, so watch out."

"I'll stay here," Pai said gloomily.

"Good puppy," Ichigo said, and patted Pai on the head. He growled at her as she skipped out, and Kisshu burst out laughing.

Ichigo went to the kitchen, and took out some ramen. After making it, she poured it into a bowl and took it back to Kisshu's room, where she found Kisshu still laughing and Pai grumbling under his breath about 'puppies eat kittens, doesn't she know that?'

"Puppies don't eat kittens, where'd you get that idea?" Ichigo asked.

"Um… research?" Pai said.

"Yeah right," Ichigo snickered. "You just made that up. Hey, if Kisshu is black as a cat, I wonder if you would be a purple puppy?"

"Grr…" Pai said, then looked thoughtful. "I wonder why Kisshu isn't green as a cat? Maybe I'll go look that up…." He wandered out of the room, and Ichigo sighed.

"Koneko-chan, did you make ramen?" Kisshu asked hopefully.

"Yep," Ichigo said. "Are you still unable to sit up?"

"I think so, sorry," Kisshu said.

"It's fine, I'll help you," Ichigo said. She put the ramen on his bedside table, and helped him sit up, rearranging the pillows to better support him. "Open up," she told Kisshu.

He obeyed, and she started feeding him the ramen. She set the bowl aside when he was done and said, "Try to get some more rest, it's the only way you'll get better."

Kisshu sighed, but settled back down as Ichigo rearranged the pillows again. He was asleep pretty quickly, and Ichigo started stroking his hair. He began purring, and she smiled.

About three hours later, Ichigo had stopped stroking Kisshu's hair, and was just sitting there, when something howled. She jerked upright, as Kisshu's eyes shot open. "What the hell was that?" he asked.

"I have no clue, but I'm going to transform," Ichigo said.

She didn't get that far.

**Nice cliffie, right? I'm going to try to get another chapter out tonight. Can you guess what was howling? Review and tell me!**


	30. Puppies

**Kitten Love Chapter 30:**

**Puppies**

Ichigo had just taken out her pendant when she heard a little clicking noise, and a puppy walked in. It appeared to be a snowball puppy (A/N: YES, that's a real breed), and it looked sad.

"Uh, what's going on?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo picked up the little fluffy white puppy, and said, "I found a puppy."

"What would a puppy be doing on the ship?" Kisshu asked.

"Maybe Pai found him and decided he wanted to study him?" Ichigo suggested. "I was talking about puppies earlier. Maybe he wanted to know more about them. Though where he found this one is beyond me."

"He probably stole it from someone's back yard," Kisshu said. "See if it has a collar."

Ichigo looked, and said, "That's odd, no collar. Maybe he doesn't belong to anyone, or he got abandoned."

"That's not like Pai, taking in strays," Kisshu said. "But if he was doing experiments on this one, I guess it would explain the howling earlier. I hope he's house-trained."

"Me too, but it's not like we can take him outside," Ichigo said. She put the puppy back down, and sighed. "He's pretty cute. Should we protect him from Pai?"

"Yeah, but where is Pai?" Kisshu asked. "I thought he would have come looking for this little guy by now."

"Yeah…" Ichigo said. "I hope he's not in the kitchen again."

"What should we name the puppy?" Kisshu asked.

"I don't know," Ichigo said.

"How about Puffball?" Kisshu said.

The puppy growled. "I don't think he likes that idea," Ichigo said. "How about Shingi?"

"Loyalty?" Kisshu asked. "Okay."

Ichigo looked at the puppy, and said, "You're Shingi, k?"

The puppy sighed. Ichigo looked at him, watching as he curled up. "I'm going to go make sure Pai isn't in the kitchen again," Ichigo said. "If he comes in, tell him I'll attack if he starts doing experiments on Shingi."

"K," Kisshu said.

Ichigo left, and went to the kitchen. She was relieved to see that Pai wasn't in there. She went to his lab to see if he was there next. Strangely, the door was open. Ichigo hesitantly went in, and looked around. Pai wasn't in there, but there was a knocked over stack of papers next to the computer. She went over to pick them up, and noticed that Pai's computer was on. Looking at the screen, she noticed a picture of the puppy she had just found. _Why would Pai be looking at pictures of puppies? I thought he wanted to research why Kishy didn't have green fur, _Ichigo thought. _And where is he, anyways? It's not like him to leave his door open, he hates people going into his lab uninvited. _She decided to look at the stack of papers, in hopes that she would find out what happened to Pai.

She went through a few sheets, but didn't find anything. Then she picked up another sheet- and her jaw dropped. The sheet was notes on how to turn a Cyniclon into an animal. _Why he'd want to do that is beyond me, but if he accidentally turned himself into a puppy, it might explain why that puppy came to Kishy's room, _Ichigo thought. "Great…" she said aloud. Then she ran back to Kisshu's room, still holding the paper.

Kisshu looked up as she ran in, and said, "Why is this puppy sad?"

"I've got a pretty good idea," Ichigo said grimly. "Read this." She handed him the paper, and watched as his jaw dropped.

"So- this puppy is Pai?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo looked at the puppy, who nodded sadly. "Looks like it," she said. "I wonder how we turn him back?"

Kisshu looked at the paper again, and said, "It says here that the Cyniclon can only turn back if their true love kisses them. So it's not like you and me, where we can just kiss anyone."

"I guess that means Lettuce," Ichigo sighed.

"But how is she going to get here?" Kisshu asked. "I can't even sit up, much less teleport."

"I'll have her ask Taruto," Ichigo said.

"K," Kisshu said.

Ichigo took out her cell phone and dialed Lettuce's number. After three rings, Lettuce picked up. _"Ichigo-san? What's up, aren't you with Kisshu-san on the ship?" _she asked.

"Yeah, but we've got a problem," Ichigo said. "Your boyfriend somehow turned himself into a puppy, and according to his research that I found, the only way he can go back to normal is for you to kiss him. It has to be his true love, so I can't do it. Not that I really want to…"

"_How am I going to get there?" _Lettuce asked.

"Can you ask Taruto to teleport you?" Ichigo asked.

"_That's an idea," _Lettuce said. _"I'll try to be there soon."_

"Thanks," Ichigo said, and hung up. Then she looked at Puppy Pai and Kisshu. "Lettuce says she'll try to be here soon," she told them.

"Good…" Kisshu said tiredly.

"Kishy, you should get some more rest," Ichigo said. "You sound tired."

"I still can't believe I slept for a WEEK, and I'm still this tired," Kisshu commented, yawning.

Ichigo started stroking his hair gently as she said softly, "Don't worry about it, just rest."

Kisshu leaned into her hand as he fell asleep, and she continued stroking his hair.

About three hours later, Taruto teleported in with Lettuce. The sound caused Kisshu to stir, since Ichigo had stopped stroking his hair a while ago. Ichigo held a finger to her lips, then pointed to the door, picking up Puppy Pai and going out with them. She closed the door to a crack, and said, "Thanks for coming. Lettuce, do you want to try getting Pai back to normal?"

"Sure, though he's seriously cute like that," Lettuce said. She took Puppy Pai out of Ichigo's arms, and kissed him on the nose. When she broke it off, he began to glow, and she put him down.

As they watched, Pai returned to his normal form, and stood up. "Thanks Lettuce, thanks Ichigo," he said.

"Sure," Ichigo said. "Why did you turn yourself into a puppy, though?"

"Well, after you told me I was a good puppy, it reminded me that I was doing research on how to turn Cyniclons into animals," Pai said. "And then I remembered that I had some kind of dog DNA, so I decided to see if my process actually worked. Unfortunately, it worked a little too well, and I had forgotten the requirements for turning back. So I turned into a puppy, and it's lucky for me that you figured out what had happened, because otherwise, I'd probably be a puppy for life."

"Why weren't you purple?" Ichigo asked.

"Snowball dogs do not come in purple," Pai said. "I don't think there ARE any purple dogs."

"Oh well," Ichigo said.

Suddenly they heard a scream from Kisshu's room, but before they could run in, Kisshu shouted, "NO! Stop it Pai!"

Ichigo and Pai looked at each other, and ran for the door. Ichigo flung it open, and ran to Kisshu as Pai went over and tapped his forehead.

Kisshu's eyes shot open, and when he saw Pai, he looked terrified, and tried to get up. Ichigo ran over and caught him before he hit the floor. "Kishy, you shouldn't try to get up, you're still too weak," Ichigo said, helping him back to the bed and tucking him back in. "What did you see?"

"I saw Pai fighting with the Crimson Warrior, and he killed you," Kisshu said shakily. "Pai's eyes were blank, like he had been hypnotized. I tried to get him to stop, but he didn't listen, and he killed you!"

"Kishy, I'm fine, it was just a dream," Ichigo said firmly. "Is that why you were scared when you saw Pai wake you up?"

"Y-yeah," Kisshu said. "Is this one going to come true too?"

"No, it's not," Ichigo said. "The Crimson Warrior didn't kill me, so that part of your dream was untrue. The only part that's come true so far was you feeling weak. I'm not going to die, no matter what."

"You promise?" Kisshu asked.

"Yes," Ichigo said with a smile. "Don't worry about me; focus on getting your strength back. I'm here with you, nowhere near the Crimson Warrior."

Kisshu sighed, and said, "Can you sleep with me? Maybe I won't have the nightmares if you're here."

Ichigo smiled. "Sure."

**I know it's short, but I wanted to get the results of the cliffie out. I'll try to post more soon, k? Review!**


	31. Teasing Gone Too Far

**Kitten Love Chapter 31:**

**Teasing Gone Too Far**

Ichigo climbed in with Kisshu, and pulled the blankets over them both as he snuggled up to her. Ichigo wrapped her arms around Kisshu's waist, and he sighed, falling back to sleep cuddled against her. Soon she was asleep too.

The next morning, she and Kisshu woke up around the same time. Ichigo sat up, and to her surprise, Kisshu did the same. "Kishy, you can sit up now?" she asked.

"Yep," Kisshu said. "I don't think I'll be able to walk for a while longer, though."

"Well, sitting up is a definite improvement," Ichigo said. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, can you make oatmeal?" Kisshu asked. "I think there's some brown sugar to go with it."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "I'll be back soon, k?"

"K," Kisshu said.

Ichigo smiled and went to the kitchen. When she got in, though, her smile faded. Pai had apparently ignored the sign yet again, and was getting out a pot. Ichigo grabbed the broom she had been sweeping the kitchen with the other day, and as Pai turned, whacked him over the head with it.

"OW! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR, ICHIGO!?" Pai shouted.

"You're in my kitchen again," Ichigo said. "GET OUT!"

"I'm hungry!" Pai said.

"I'm making oatmeal, I'll bring some to your lab when it's done," Ichigo said. "OUT!"

"Don't bother, I'm going to go check on Kisshu, so you can just bring it there," Pai said gloomily, and teleported out.

Ichigo sighed, and got out the oatmeal and brown sugar. Then she got an evil idea, and she took a large bone out of the fridge, then sliced all the meat off of it. Then she cleaned it off, and started the oatmeal.

When the oatmeal was done, she put three bowls on a tray along with the brown sugar and the bone.

Going back to Kisshu's room, she heard Kisshu laughing, and Pai shouting, "IT'S NOT FUNNY! THAT HURT!"

Ichigo went in as Kisshu said, "It's hilarious!" He noticed Ichigo, and said, "Nice job with the broom, Koneko-chan."

"Thanks, Kishy," Ichigo said. "I brought the oatmeal, brown sugar, and a little something for Pai."

"Uh-oh…" Pai said.

"No, this is something you'll like," Ichigo said. She set the tray down, then handed a bowl to Kisshu, along with the brown sugar jar. Then she picked up the bone, and said, "Look Pai!"

"Ichigo, why did you bring a bone in here?" Pai asked.

"So we can play fetch!" Ichigo said, smirking.

Kisshu burst out laughing again as smoke came out of Pai's ears. "I AM NOT A DOG!" Pai shouted.

"You were yesterday," Ichigo snickered. Then she went over to Pai and handed him the bone. He promptly hurled it out Kisshu's door as Kisshu continued laughing.

Suddenly they heard a loud, "OW!" from outside. Two seconds later, Taruto appeared with the bone in hand and said, "Okay, who threw this?"

"PAI DID IT!" Ichigo and Kisshu shouted together.

Taruto glared at Pai, and said, "Care to explain why you tried to knock me out?"

"Ichigo told me that we should play fetch!" Pai said defensively. "Then she handed me the bone, and I decided to get rid of it."

Taruto was doubled up laughing as he said, "Fetch!?"

"Yeah, since Pai is part puppy, I thought he'd like to play fetch," Ichigo giggled.

Pai was steaming, and it didn't help when Kisshu said, "Hey Taruto, go back to Earth and get some dog biscuits!"

Ichigo and Taruto burst out laughing, but stopped pretty quickly when Pai took out his fan and said, "I'VE HAD IT!"

"Jeez, we're only teasing," Kisshu said.

This didn't seem to help, as Pai's anger got a little too out of control, and the fan shot a small bolt of lightning at Kisshu, who still couldn't dodge. Ichigo jumped in front of him, holding up her arm to avoid getting hit in the chest. It succeeded, but her arm still got scorched, and she cried out, falling back on the bed.

That was it for Kisshu. He got up, his anger lending him strength, and summoned both his swords.

Pai's anger had evaporated as soon as Ichigo got scorched, and he let his fan disappear as Kisshu snarled, "You're going down for this, Pai." Not giving Pai a chance to respond, he lunged forward, and Pai dodged.

Pai had to keep dodging, even though Kisshu's attacks weren't anywhere near as strong or accurate as usual. He noticed Kisshu was gasping for breath already, and said, "Kisshu, you have to stop, this isn't good for you! I'm sorry I hurt Ichigo, and I'll heal the injury, but you're about to collapse!"

This was proved right as Kisshu stumbled halfway through another attempt to stab Pai, and fell. Pai caught him as he blacked out, and carried him back to the bed. Ichigo appeared to be unconscious as well, and Pai said, "Taruto, I'm probably going to need a power transfer, so stay."

"Hai," Taruto said. Pai put Kisshu down, and went to Ichigo, then put a hand on the scorch mark on her arm, and started healing it. Luckily she didn't have a fever or anything else besides the injury.

Eventually the burn was fully healed, and Pai tucked Ichigo in next to Kisshu. Pai put a hand on Kisshu's forehead- and his eyes widened in horror. Taruto noticed and asked nervously, "What's wrong?"

"Kisshu's got a fever, and I've never felt his temperature this high," Pai said grimly. "I'm probably going to need at least half your power, or Kisshu will die."

"Let me know when," Taruto said, watching as Pai put his hand over Kisshu's heart. His hand began to glow, brighter than usual.

Fifteen minutes later, the glow was starting to flicker, and Pai said, "Taruto, I need help."

Taruto immediately came over and took Pai's other hand, pouring his power into Pai. The glow around Pai's hand got brighter, and he continued trying to bring Kisshu's fever down.

Another fifteen minutes passed before Pai took his hand away, and said, "His fever's gone, but he's still not in good shape."

"You want to take shifts watching him, right?" Taruto asked.

"I'll do it," Pai said. "You go rest. Ichigo should be up soon anyways, and then she can help too."

"I'll stay too," Taruto said.

"Kisshu probably won't wake up till tomorrow night at the earliest," Pai said. "Go get some rest, you can come back later."

Taruto sighed and teleported out. Pai settled down to watch over Kisshu and Ichigo.

Ichigo started to wake up about an hour later, and noticed Kisshu sleeping next to her. She sat up, and was startled to see Pai sitting in a chair next to the bed. Pai noticed she was sitting up, and said softly, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, what about Kisshu?" Ichigo asked.

"Not so much," Pai said grimly. "He attacked me after I hurt you, and while I guess I can't really blame him, it really took a toll on his body. He really wasn't in any condition to get up, much less attack with his swords. It took half an hour, all my power, and about two thirds of Taruto's power to get rid of his fever, which was ten degrees above normal. I don't think he'll wake up till tomorrow night at the earliest, and he's going to be extremely weak again. You and I, and maybe Taruto too, are going to have to keep him from doing anything even remotely energetic, it could cause his condition to take a turn for the worse. If he really pushes himself, which we need to keep him from doing, it could kill him. It'll probably be at least five days before he'll be able to sit up, and at least nine before he'll be able to stand. And he'll have to take things very slowly, including walking."

"I'll keep him from pushing himself, and I'm sure you'll do the same," Ichigo said.

"We also need to keep him quiet, so I'm going to stop going in the kitchen," Pai sighed. "Which should've happened sooner anyways…"

"I'm glad you finally realized that," Ichigo said. "But we've got other things to worry about now, so we might as well forget it for now. I'd suggest reporting what happened to Keiichiro, he needs to know that Kishy is going to be out of commission for longer than we originally expected."

"On it," Pai said, and left.

Ichigo slept with Kisshu that night, and when she woke up the next morning, he was still unconscious. She carefully got out of bed and tucked the blankets back around Kisshu, then went to make breakfast. Luckily, Pai had kept his word and was not in the kitchen. Ichigo started a batch of raspberry muffins, and went to see if Pai was in his lab. She knocked on the door, and heard, "Unless it's Taruto, come in!"

Ichigo opened the door, and said, "I'm making muffins, so I'll bring some in when they're ready. Is Taruto still here?"

"Yeah, but he might be sleeping, he gave me a lot of power," Pai said. "If he's not up by the time the muffins are ready, I'll go get him."

"You don't need to, muffins don't go bad that fast," Ichigo said. "I'm going back; see you when they've cooled a bit."

"K," Pai said, and went back to the book he was reading.

Ichigo went back to the kitchen and waited for the timer on the oven to beep. Ten minutes later, it beeped, and Ichigo took the muffins out. She put them on a cooling rack, and got out some plates. When the muffins were cool enough, she popped them out of the pan, and put two on each of the three plates. Then she took one back to Pai's lab, and knocked. "Come in," Pai called.

Ichigo opened the door, and said, "Here's two raspberry muffins; if you need more, come let me know. Taruto's are on the counter, and I'm taking mine back to Kishy's room, so he won't be alone."

"Thanks," Pai said, taking the plate from her.

Ichigo nodded and left, going to the kitchen to get her plate. She got it and went back to Kisshu's room, then sat down at his desk to eat.

**I'll try to get out more tomorrow; please don't flame if you don't like. But you can review!**


	32. A Long Road to Recovery

**Kitten Love Chapter 32:**

**A Long Road to Recovery**

Pai had been right; Kisshu didn't wake up till about 6:30 in the evening. Pai was in there at the time; Ichigo was making dinner, and Taruto was helping.

Pai noticed Kisshu was starting to stir, and asked softly, "Kisshu?"

Kisshu opened his eyes and turned his head. "Pai? What happened?" he asked.

Pai sighed. "The result of you attacking me was that your temperature shot up to ten degrees above normal," he said. "It took all of my power and most of Taruto's to make sure you wouldn't die."

"Where's Ichigo?" Kisshu asked.

"She and Taruto are making dinner," Pai said.

"She's okay?" Kisshu asked.

"Yes, I healed the injury," Pai said. "You, on the other hand, are far from 'okay'."

"I feel really weak," Kisshu said. "I don't think I can sit up anymore."

"It's probably going to be at least five days before you'll be able to sit up," Pai said. "And I know you're not going to like this, but it'll be about nine before you can stand up. You're going to need to take everything slowly, including walking. And getting worked up is going to be really bad for you. You're in pretty bad shape right now. Ichigo and I will be here, though."

Kisshu sighed. "Why'd this have to happen?" he asked.

"The Crimson Warrior wants the strongest fighters out of the way," Pai said. "That means you and Ichigo. He knows that if you're unable to fight, Ichigo will also stay out of the fighting to protect you."

"He's going to have a better chance of getting rid of the others if Ichigo and I can't be there," Kisshu said.

"The best thing you can do right now is rest up and focus on recovering," Pai said. "I know that's not what you want to hear, but if you start pushing yourself, it could kill you. And where would that leave Ichigo?"

"Point taken," Kisshu sighed. "I'll try to take it easy. Can I have something to eat?"

"I'll go see if dinner is ready," Pai said. He teleported to the kitchen, and found Ichigo and Taruto putting soup in bowls.

Ichigo looked up, and asked, "Is Kishy awake?"

"Hai, can I bring him some soup?" Pai said.

"I'll do it," Ichigo said. "You and Taruto can eat. Taruto can keep you from touching stuff, right Taruto?"

"Yup," Taruto said.

Ichigo smiled and took one of the bowls, then walked to Kisshu's room. He turned his head as she came in, and asked, "Koneko-chan?"

"I'm right here," Ichigo said. "I made soup tonight, is that okay?"

"Sure," Kisshu said. "What kind?"

"Chicken noodle," Ichigo said.

"Okay," Kisshu said.

Ichigo sat down next to him with the soup, and said, "Okay, open up."

Kisshu sighed and obeyed. Ichigo started feeding him the soup, noticing he looked unhappy. When he finished, she commented, "I thought you'd like me feeding you, but you look pretty unhappy."

"I just don't like feeling this helpless," Kisshu said. "It's hard because I like being active and doing things, but now I have no choice but to lie in bed all day. Pai says it's going to be more than two weeks before I'll be back to full strength. That's a long time…"

"I know, and I'll do all that I can to help you through this," Ichigo said softly. "And Pai's agreed to stop going in the kitchen, so we shouldn't have any more smoke alarms."

"Wow, really?" Kisshu asked. "I thought he'd never stop."

"He says he knows that you won't get the rest you need if he's constantly setting off the smoke alarm," Ichigo said. "I wouldn't put it past him to resume trying to cook after you get better, though."

"Yeah, he's hopeless," Kisshu said. "I've often wondered how someone that smart can have absolutely no common sense."

"Beats me," Ichigo said. "Did he ever have common sense?"

"Not that I remember," Kisshu said. "One time when we were little, he found this weird liquid, and I guess he wanted to see what it tasted like, and he ended up drinking the whole thing for some reason."

"What happened?" Ichigo asked.

"Well, it was lucky his mom was a healer too, because it turned out the bottle was filled with this type of alcohol that some adults drank on our planet," Kisshu said. "Unfortunately, this particular bottle had gone bad, and Pai got pretty sick. Not as bad as the time he poisoned us with pasta, but pretty bad."

"Yikes," Ichigo said. "How old was he?"

"Ten," Kisshu said. "I was seven, and Taruto was two. Taruto doesn't remember that incident, but I told him about it when he was old enough to understand, and he spent a week laughing every time he saw Pai- which was a lot. Aunt Tatsuki asked Taruto why he was laughing at Pai, and he said, "Because he's a lunatic!" Aunt Tatsuki looked at me, and I said, "I told him the story about Pai drinking that bottle of rotten alcohol." Boy was she mad. I got grounded for a month, and even though Taruto got grounded for two weeks, he still spent most of his time laughing at Pai. The only reason I got un-grounded sooner is because Pai tried to strangle me when Taruto told his best friend that Pai was a lunatic. Of course it was all my fault that Taruto was going around telling everyone Pai was a lunatic, so Pai decided to strangle me. He got grounded for two months, with no reading besides school related reading. To Pai, that's like torture, and he had to endure two months of it."

Ichigo was laughing, and said, "Jeez, Pai was born without common sense?"

"Apparently," Kisshu said. "And he's probably set both the Cyniclon and human record for how stupid you can be in the kitchen. I mean seriously, he took out his fans and tried to make the stove heat up faster."

"I still can't believe he didn't get electrocuted," Ichigo giggled.

"Who didn't get electrocuted?" Pai asked as he came in with another bowl of soup.

"You, we were talking about your kitchen disasters," Ichigo said.

"Mmph," Pai said. "I brought you some soup, since you've been in here with Kisshu."

"Thanks," Ichigo said. She took the bowl from Pai, noticing it was hot. Then she sat down at Kisshu's desk to eat.

Halfway through, her stomach started feeling funny, and she stopped eating. "Pai, you didn't do anything with this, did you?" she asked.

"I put some salt in the pot," Pai said. "Why?"

"My stomach doesn't feel good," Ichigo said.

Kisshu glared at Pai, and said, "So you've gone back to poisoning us?"

"I thought it was salt," Pai said grouchily.

Kisshu sighed and reached under the bed, then pulled out a bucket, looking at Ichigo.

She came over, and took the bucket from him as she felt her stomach lurch. She just barely had time to sit down and put the bucket on her lap before she threw up. She felt Kisshu start rubbing her back as she continued throwing up. _If I stop throwing up soon, Pai is doomed, _she thought as she realized she couldn't stop throwing up. Her stomach felt awful, and it didn't help that she was getting dizzy.

Kisshu was getting worried; it looked like Ichigo couldn't stop throwing up. He looked at Pai, who went over and put his hand on Ichigo's stomach. His hand began to glow, and Ichigo slowly stopped heaving. A few minutes later, she had stopped throwing up completely, and Pai took his hand away. "Does that feel any better, Ichigo?" Pai asked.

"A lot better, but I'd suggest going to check on Taruto too," Ichigo sighed. "I just want to go to sleep…."

"Go to sleep, I'll go check on Taruto," Pai said. "And sleeping with Kisshu is fine as long as he doesn't mind."

"I don't mind," Kisshu said.

"I'm going to go brush my teeth first," Ichigo said. She got up and went to the bathroom, taking the bucket with her. Surprisingly, Taruto wasn't in there, so she emptied the bucket, brushed her teeth, and was about to go back to Kisshu's room when Taruto teleported in, one hand over his mouth. He flew over to the toilet as Ichigo left. As she closed the door, she heard him start throwing up too.

On her way back, she passed Pai, and said, "Taruto's in the bathroom, just so you know."

"I figured, thanks," Pai said.

Ichigo continued back to Kisshu's room, and found him waiting for her. "Is Taruto sick too?" Kisshu asked.

"Yep," Ichigo said. "I'll let Pai live for tonight."

"Killing him isn't a good idea, but you and Taruto can have fun beating him up," Kisshu suggested.

Ichigo sighed as she climbed into bed with Kisshu.

Five days later, Kisshu was able to sit up, but still couldn't stand. He also got tired out easily, and was pretty frustrated by that. Ichigo spent a lot of time calming him down, since getting too worked up in his condition usually resulted in a coughing fit and Ichigo calling Pai in.

Another four days passed, and Kisshu was able to stand up. He still needed help walking, but he was slowly getting stronger. Ichigo was with him all the time, and only left when she had to cook something. Both she and Pai were trying to keep Kisshu in or near his room at all times, since he sometimes got tired out walking, and then needed help getting back to his room. It was hard for him, because he couldn't go to the kitchen and help Ichigo cook. The kitchen was on the other side of the ship from his room, and he wasn't strong enough to walk that far yet.

By the end of the week after he was able to walk, Kisshu was able to fly again, but teleporting was still hard on his body, and he couldn't teleport Ichigo with him.

Finally, however, nearly a month after Kisshu got hit by the Crimson Warrior's dart, Kisshu was back to full strength. He was extremely happy with this, and started training again.

Ichigo was also happy for him, and called her parents to let them know the news. They were happy too, and Sakura said that she and Shintaro would be home soon.

This was good, because more trouble was coming.

**I'm off to work on Neko; plz review (without flaming). I won't be updating this till tomorrow, so you all have plenty of time. :) **


	33. Return

**Kitten Love Chapter 33:**

**Return **

Now that Kisshu was back to full strength, they were going back to Earth. Kisshu teleported Ichigo back to their house, where they found Sakura and Shintaro waiting. As soon as she saw them, Sakura immediately asked, "Kisshu, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Kisshu said. "It took a while, though."

"It's been nearly a month," Sakura said.

"Was your trip nice?" Ichigo asked.

"Yep, we had fun," Sakura said. "Oh, I called the school, and you two are going back on Monday; I figured you could use some time here before getting back in the school schedule."

"Thanks Mom," Ichigo said. "I'd better let Moe and Miwa know, they've probably missed us."

"Good idea," Sakura said.

Ichigo smiled and pulled Kisshu upstairs, then set her suitcase down and got out her cell phone. She called Miwa first, and she picked up after one ring. _"Are you back? Please say yes!" _Miwa said before Ichigo could say a word.

"I'm back, and Kisshu is fully recovered," Ichigo said. "Do you want to come over?"

"_I'll be there in ten minutes!" _Miwa said excitedly, and hung up.

Ichigo smiled and dialed Moe's number. Moe also picked up right away, and said, _"PLEASE say you're back!"_

"We're back, and I just invited Miwa over; do you want to come too?" Ichigo asked.

"_On my way," _Moe said, and hung up.

Ichigo turned to Kisshu, and said, "Yup, they missed us."

"I'm not surprised, we were gone for a month," Kisshu said. "It'll be good to see them again."

Ten minutes later, Ichigo heard the doorbell ring, and ran downstairs, then opened the front door. She was immediately tackled by her two over-excited friends, and they fell to the floor laughing. "It's great to see you again," Ichigo said.

"You have no idea how much we missed you," Miwa said. "School's kind of hard without you."

"Sorry," Ichigo said. "Kisshu didn't wake up for a week, and it took another nearly three weeks before he was back to full strength. He's fine now, though."

"Where is he?" Moe asked.

"My room," Ichigo said. "Come on up."

Moe and Miwa ran up the stairs, followed by Ichigo, who was smiling at their enthusiasm. When she reached her room, she saw Moe and Miwa hugging the life out of Kisshu. "Guys, I don't think Kisshu can breathe," Ichigo commented.

Moe and Miwa let go and looked at Kisshu, who said, "It's nice to see you too, but please don't do that again."

"Sorry, are you okay?" Miwa asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kisshu said. "How's it going?"

"We got kind of lonely without you two," Miwa said. "We're glad you're back. The only person at the school who will hang out with us sometimes is Kaien. He ate lunch with us a few times, and we're kind of getting used to him. He hasn't told anyone, either, so we don't need to beat him up."

"That's good," Kisshu said. "He seems nice."

"I think so too," Moe said. "No one else in the school would eat with us or even come near us. You two and Kaien are our only friends."

"I'm sorry it took so long," Kisshu said.

"We know it's not your fault," Moe said. She turned to Ichigo and asked, "So how was it, staying on the aliens' ship?"

"It wasn't too bad, but I was continually chasing Pai out of the kitchen," Ichigo sighed. "Kisshu is right, he's a complete disaster. The day Kisshu woke up, he decided the stove wasn't heating up fast enough, and tried to make it heat up faster with the lightning from his fan. He set off the smoke alarm AND melted the pot. Even after I hit him with a broom, he still didn't stop going into the kitchen and trying to cook. He obviously has no common sense, and I'm still not sure what he put in the soup after I left. He claimed it was salt, but Taruto and I couldn't stop throwing up, so I'm guessing it wasn't salt."

"I guess I'm lucky I got some before Pai poisoned it," Kisshu said. "I wouldn't put it past him to have left some kind of crystallized chemical in there."

"I cannot believe that guy," Ichigo muttered. "I sincerely hope Keiichiro never lets him within twenty feet of his kitchen."

"That sounds pretty bad," Miwa said. "Maybe we should go see Keiichiro and tell him."

"I could just call him," Ichigo said.

"It's nice out," Kisshu said. "And I haven't been in the nice polluted air in a month."

"Okay, let's go," Ichigo said.

They went downstairs, and Ichigo called, "Mom, we're going to the Café, we need to see if Keiichiro knows to keep Pai out of his kitchen."

"K," Sakura said. "Try to be back in time for dinner."

"We will," Kisshu said.

The four friends left and started walking to Café Mew Mew. "You're right, it is nice out," Ichigo said to Kisshu.

"I like this weather," Moe said.

They reached the Café, and Ichigo unlocked the door and went in. "Keiichiro?" Ichigo called out as the others came in.

"In the kitchen," Keiichiro called back. The four looked at each other warily, and went into the kitchen- only to find their worst fears were true. Keiichiro noticed the horrified looks on their faces as they saw Pai in there, and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"YOU LET PAI IN YOUR KITCHEN!?" Ichigo and Kisshu shrieked.

"We're doomed," Moe and Miwa said together.

Keiichiro looked confused, and said, "He wanted to learn how to cook. What's wrong with that?"

"Pai is the kitchen's worst nightmare," Ichigo sighed. "He has no common sense whatsoever. When I was on the ship, he set off the smoke alarm on a daily basis, melted or burned at least five pots, put poison in the soup I made- and he still kept going in there, even after I put up a sign to keep him out."

"Pai, how on EARTH did you melt a pot?" Keiichiro asked.

"The stove wasn't heating up, so I kind of took out my fan to make it go faster, and the pot melted," Pai said. "I didn't know the pot was capable of melting…."

Keiichiro looked a bit freaked out, and said, "And poisoning?"

"I thought it was salt!" Pai said.

"What was it really?" Keiichiro asked.

"Sink cleanser…" Pai said.

"Out," Keiichiro said. "That's beyond 'no common sense'."

Pai sighed and slouched out of the kitchen, giving Kisshu a death glare as he passed. "It's really for the common good," Ichigo told him. Pai responded with another death glare.

"Try anything and you're history," Miwa warned him.

"Don't worry, I'm off to see Lettuce," Pai said gloomily. Ichigo immediately took out her cell phone, and dialed Lettuce's number. "What are you doing?" Pai asked.

Ichigo ignored him, and waited till Lettuce picked up, then said, "Lettuce, it's Ichigo."

"_Hi Ichigo-san, what's up?" _Lettuce asked.

"I just wanted to warn you not to let Pai anywhere near your kitchen," Ichigo said. "He said he's coming over, so I just thought I'd tell you that when I was staying with him, he set off the smoke alarm every single time he went in the kitchen, burned and/or melted five pots, and poisoned the soup I made with sink cleanser, which he claims was salt."

"_Yikes," _Lettuce said. _"Thanks for the warning, Ichigo-san."_

"Welcome," Ichigo said. "Have fun when he gets there."

"_Thanks," _Lettuce said, and hung up.

"All set," Ichigo said, looking over at Pai, who was giving her the 'if looks could kill' glare. "Seriously, it's for your own good," she told him. "You don't want what happened to me and Taruto to happen to Lettuce, do you?"

"Not particularly," Pai said.

"Then be a good puppy and stay out of kitchens," Ichigo said.

"I'M NOT A PUPPY!" Pai shouted.

"You're part puppy," Ichigo said. "Right now you're being a bad puppy. Bad puppies get put outside for the night. Be a good puppy, and you won't get disciplined."

"ENOUGH PUPPIES!" Pai shouted, and took out his fan. Before he got a chance to move, Moe and Miwa went into 'destroy' mode, and leaped on him, sending his fan flying as they started beating him up.

"NO ONE gets to attack Ichigo!" Miwa shouted, giving Pai a black eye. "GOT THAT!?"

"Got it," Pai said, wincing. "Can you possibly get off me now?"

"Oh, fine- but only because you're Kisshu's brother," Moe said. "Otherwise, you'd be going down in flames." She and Miwa got off of a rather battered Pai, who teleported out immediately. Moe sighed, and said, "Maybe next time he'll remember not to attack you, Ichigo."

"After that little experience, I don't think attacking Ichigo will cross his mind," Kisshu said. "Nice job, I've never seen Pai get his fan knocked away that fast."

Moe and Miwa smirked, and said, "Thanks, Kisshu." Then Miwa sighed, and said, "We should get home, so I guess we'll see you Monday."

"Yep, see you then," Moe said. She and Miwa left, and Kisshu teleported Ichigo home.

**I KNOW it's short and filler, but I need help with this one and Namida, so please PM me or review with ideas!**


	34. Moe and Miwa's Weakness

**Kitten Love Chapter 34:**

**Moe and Miwa's Weakness**

On Monday, Kisshu and Ichigo went back to school. Moe and Miwa met them at the gates, and they walked in together.

"It's been pretty quiet here since you've been gone," Miwa told Kisshu and Ichigo. "The girls moped for a while, but they seemed to have gotten over it. I just hope it's not too bad now that you're back."

"We'll manage; we did before," Kisshu sighed.

They went to their first period, and sat down in the usual formation; the three girls in a half circle around Kisshu. The rest of the class filed in, and the teacher came in and started the lesson.

Unfortunately, the girls had gone starry-eyed the minute they noticed Kisshu was back, and while they weren't passing him notes, they were staring at him dreamily. He just ignored them.

By lunchtime, it was clear that the girls had decided to start targeting Kisshu again. As he, Ichigo, Miwa and Moe headed to the roof for lunch, Miwa said, "Well, they're back at it. I guess it was wishful thinking that they wouldn't be too bad."

"Well, we can start beating them up if they get too annoying," Moe said.

"We'll just have to hope that's enough," Ichigo said. "They're complete idiots."

"Yup," Kisshu said.

They got through lunch without interruptions, but from the next class till the end of the day, the girls decided to stare at Kisshu.

By the time the bell rang, Kisshu was seriously irritated. "How do they expect to win me over by being creepy pests?" he asked Ichigo.

"Beats me, but they're so stupid they probably think what they're doing will eventually work," Ichigo sighed. Suddenly her cell phone rang, and she picked up. "Moshi moshi?" she said.

"_Ichigo, it's Keiichiro, Mint and the Crimson Warrior are attacking a mall near your school!" _Keiichiro said.

"Why do they always attack malls?" Ichigo asked.

"_I don't know, but you have to get over there," _Keiichiro said.

"We're on our way," Ichigo said, and hung up. She looked at the others, and said, "Mint and the Crimson Warrior are attacking that mall down the street, we have to go."

"K," the others said, and Miwa and Moe started running as Ichigo and Kisshu went behind some trees to transform. They came out a moment later, and ran to the mall after Moe and Miwa, who had almost reached it.

Mint and the Crimson Warrior broke off the attack when they saw Moe and Miwa, who got there before Ichigo and Kisshu. As Ichigo and Kisshu reached them, Mint said to Moe and Miwa, "You two are going down!"

"Yeah right, Birdy," Miwa said. "Since when have you been able to beat us? You're completely worthless. I don't know why the Crimson Jerk works with you."

To Ichigo and Kisshu's worry, Mint didn't seem mad this time. "I've discovered your weakness, and you ARE going to go down today," she said.

Moe and Miwa looked puzzled. "Our weakness? We don't really have one," Miwa said.

"Maybe not together," Mint said.

Ichigo and Kisshu noticed Miwa and Moe's eyes widen, and looked at each other. Then they started to run over, but the Crimson Warrior blocked them. "That mall will explode if you try to help them," he said, smirking. "Try to help, and I'll blow the whole place up. It's one of my powers- making things explode. Unfortunately, it doesn't work on living things…"

Kisshu snarled, as Ichigo's ears drooped. "What are you planning?" Kisshu asked.

"Mint noticed something about your friends, and figured out their weakness," the Crimson Warrior said. "As for the rest- well, wait and see." Then he snapped his fingers, and suddenly Ichigo and Kisshu realized they couldn't move. They struggled against the paralysis, but it did no good. The Crimson Warrior smirked, and went back to Mint.

Ichigo and Kisshu were puzzled. "I didn't think they had a weakness," Kisshu said.

"Neither did I; I wonder what it is," Ichigo said.

"Beats me," Kisshu said.

They kept watching, frustrated by their inability to move, as Mint lunged at Moe and Miwa. At the same time, the Crimson Warrior teleported behind them, and grabbed Moe. Miwa turned, and tried to run to Moe, but Mint flew down and knocked her out as Moe tried unsuccessfully to break free from the Crimson Warrior. Mint flew over to them, and the Crimson Warrior grabbed her as well, then teleported. Ichigo and Kisshu felt the paralysis snap just as Mint and the Crimson Warrior disappeared with Moe.

"Damn it!" Kisshu shouted. "NOW what?"

Ichigo was nearly in tears, but she said, "We have to get Miwa out of here."

Kisshu ran to Miwa, and picked her up. "Grab my shoulder, we need to get out of here," he told Ichigo, who obeyed. Kisshu teleported to Ichigo's room, and set Miwa down on the bed. Then he sighed. "I guess we need to ask about their weakness when she wakes up," he said.

"What do we do about the fact that Moe's been kidnapped?" Ichigo said.

"Call Keiichiro, I'll call Pai," Kisshu said.

Ichigo grabbed her cell phone and dialed Keiichiro's number, then waited. Finally she heard, _"Ichigo?"_

"Moe got kidnapped," Ichigo said grimly. "Mint said something about finding out her and Miwa's weakness, and the Crimson Warrior grabbed Moe. Miwa tried to help her, but Mint knocked her out, and the Crimson Warrior teleported her and Moe off somewhere. Kisshu is calling Pai right now, and Miwa's here. What do we do?"

"_I'm not sure," _Keiichiro admitted. _"She's not a Mew, so I can't track her on the computers. And this won't be easy to explain to her family, either."_

"Is there a way to track the Crimson Warrior or Mint?" Ichigo asked.

"_I'll get on that," _Keiichiro said. _"You three try to figure out what to tell Moe's family, and I'll try to find her, and get Pai on this as well."_

"Good luck, and please hurry," Ichigo said, and hung up. Then she looked at Kisshu.

"I let Pai know, he'll be here soon," Kisshu said. He sighed. "This isn't going to be easy…" he said.

"You're right," Ichigo sighed. "I don't know what to do."

Sakura came in and started to say, "I heard…" then she saw Miwa, and asked, "What HAPPENED!?"

"Mint knocked her out, and she and the Crimson Warrior kidnapped Moe," Kisshu said gloomily. "We just let Pai and Keiichiro know; Pai's going to be here soon."

"What's going to happen now? What are we going to tell her family?" Sakura asked.

"Not sure yet," Ichigo said. "Maybe Miwa can help."

Pai teleported in, and said, "How's Miwa?"

"Still unconscious," Kisshu said.

Pai went over and put a hand on her forehead, then tapped her forehead. Miwa woke up, and sat up, startled. "What happened? Where's Moe?" she asked.

"The Crimson Warrior and Mint took her after they knocked you out," Ichigo said grimly. "And the Crimson Warrior can temporarily paralyze people, so we couldn't help her. Keiichiro's trying to find her by trying to track the Crimson Warrior."

"She's gone?" Miwa whispered.

"Not for good," Kisshu said. "We're going to get her back, no matter what it takes. But what was that about your weakness?"

"We can't fight on our own; we can only fight as a team," Miwa whispered. "Neither of us knows why, either. There's only one possibility I can think of, and it's a little complicated."

"What is it?" Ichigo asked.

"Moe and I were going through some old baby pictures when we found her birth certificate and mine," Miwa said. "We didn't know why they were in the same box until we looked at them and compared them. We were born in the same hospital, on the same day- to the same woman. We don't know why, but for some reason, we were separated at birth. We're fraternal twins. We never confronted our mom, who we thought was only Moe's mom, but there's no doubt from looking at the birth certificates that Moe and I are twins. I think that's why we fight together so well, but can't fight on our own. We can't be separated for long either without getting sad."

The others all had their jaws on the floor. "Why didn't you tell us?" Ichigo whispered.

"We wanted to wait till we found out more before going around telling people we're twins," Miwa said. "But now Moe's been kidnapped, by two people who are constantly on the news. We need to figure out what to tell our mom. We may have to tell her more about the situation, because otherwise, the police will get involved, and that'll be bad for all of us."

"Pai, go get Keiichiro, and explain that we've got to tell Moe and Miwa's mom about us," Ichigo said. "Mom, call Mrs. Yanagida and tell her she needs to come over, but don't tell her about Moe yet."

"Hai," Pai said, and teleported out.

"On it," Sakura said, and ran out.

Miwa sighed sadly, and Ichigo went over and hugged her. Miwa buried her face in Ichigo's shoulder, and said softly, "Why did this happen?"

"I don't know," Ichigo said softly. "But I swear we'll get Moe back, Miwa. We won't give up, and I'm sure you won't either."

"Thanks Ichigo," Miwa said.

Teleportation sounded, and Pai appeared with Keiichiro. "Let's go downstairs," Pai said.

"Too pink for you?" Kisshu asked.

"Little green demon…." Pai muttered.

Miwa and Ichigo giggled, as Kisshu smirked at Pai. "Was I right? You can't handle pink?" he asked.

"I can handle some pink, but this is insane!" Pai said.

"What's your favorite color?" Miwa asked.

"Uh…. Purple," Pai said.

"That's not too far from pink," Ichigo giggled. "Is your room purple?"

"No one knows what color Pai's room is," Kisshu said before Pai could respond. "Two walls are books, and the other two are funny. One is floor to ceiling pictures of Lettuce, and the other is shelf after shelf of plushies. They're actually kind of cute. I like the green shelf best. The shelves are color-coded."

Ichigo and Miwa had fallen off the bed and were laughing almost too hard to speak. Almost. "PLUSHIES!?" Ichigo shrieked, laughing. "Pai, you like PLUSHIES!?"

"And you color-code them?" Miwa giggled.

"Pai likes toy stores," Kisshu said. "He used to go out at night and randomly teleport to a different toy store every night, and steal plushies and stuffed animals. And he spent hours arranging them on the shelves."

"I wonder what Lettuce would think?" Ichigo gasped out.

"Tell her and you die," Pai said.

Ichigo reached for her cell phone, but unfortunately Sakura came back at that moment and said, "What is going ON in here?"

"Pai likes plushies, and he has a whole wall of color-coded shelves full of plushies!" Ichigo said, and started laughing again, joined by Kisshu and Miwa.

"I called Yume," Sakura said. "She'll be here soon, so at least try to get it together, k?"

Ichigo, Kisshu and Miwa sighed, then started trying to calm down. They went downstairs, and by the time the doorbell rang, they were pretty calm.

Sakura went to get the door as the others settled down in the living room. She came back with a woman about her age, with brown eyes and blonde hair- like Moe's. She looked startled to see everyone, and asked, "What's going on?"

"You should sit down," Sakura said. "It's a long story."

Mrs. Yanagida sat down on the couch next to Miwa, and Sakura sat down next to them. "Where's Moe?" Mrs. Yanagida asked.

"I don't know any easy way of saying this, but you saw the news reports about those two who keep attacking the mall, right?" Keiichiro said.

"Hai," Mrs. Yanagida said.

"They kidnapped Moe," Ichigo said sadly. "We're not exactly sure why, but I assume they wanted a hostage in order to kill both me and Kisshu."

"But why would they want to kill you two?" Mrs. Yanagida asked.

"They are pretty much all that stands between the two from the news and the rest of us," Keiichiro said. "I should introduce myself; my name is Akasaka Keiichiro, and I was one of the creators of the group Tokyo Mew Mew."

Mrs. Yanagida seemed stunned, and said softly, "Does that mean Ichigo is Mew Ichigo?"

"Hai," Keiichiro said. "I also need to tell you that she could get killed if this information gets out, but because Moe is now a part of this, we figured it was only fair to tell you."

"I won't tell; I don't want Ichigo to get killed," Mrs. Yanagida said. "Is there more to this?"

"Hai," Keiichiro said. "The two who kidnapped Moe are Mew Mint, who switched sides in order to kill Ichigo, and the Crimson Warrior, who broke her out of jail in return for her help with his goal of world domination. I imagine they think if they have one of Ichigo's friends, they'll have a better chance of killing her. I'm currently working on tracking the Crimson Warrior to find Moe, and Pai is helping me. I'd appreciate it if you left this to us and Ichigo, instead of calling the police. The police aren't really as capable of defeating those two as Ichigo and Kisshu are."

"I just thought of something," Pai said. "If I had some of Moe's DNA, I could find her."

"DNA?" Mrs. Yanagida asked. "Don't you need her blood for that?"

"Not necessarily," Pai said. "I can extract DNA from blood, yes. But a strand of her hair would work fine too. I assume she has a hairbrush, right?"

"Yes, do you want it?" Mrs. Yanagida asked.

"Please," Pai said. "If you could bring it here, Kisshu can call me to come get it."

"Okay, I'll do that," Mrs. Yanagida said. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes, but this is a bit different," Miwa said. "I want to know why you gave me to the Honjou family."

Mrs. Yanagida turned dead white. "You found out?" she whispered.

"Moe and I found our birth certificates," Miwa said. "Why did you separate us?"

"I was only eighteen," Mrs. Yanagida said softly. "I got pregnant, and when my boyfriend found out, he dumped me. I panicked when I found out I was carrying twins; there was no way I could take care of both of you, but I didn't want to lose either of you. My best friend, Megumi, had just lost her first child. She was already married to Honjou Gen, and when I told her my problem, she said that she would take one of you in. When you both were born, she was there for me. When I left the hospital, I gave you to her. She promised she'd raise you well, and since we were best friends, I trusted her. And I don't think there have been any problems- at least, not any unnatural problems. When I was your age- and this is true of Megumi as well- I fought with my mom 24/7. Anyways, she and I did everything we could to get the two of you together from the start. And then when you both met Ichigo, our three families started working together to make sure you three did almost everything together. Especially since when you were younger, the protectiveness you showed toward Ichigo made her parents a bit more comfortable. None of us expected that you and Moe would go to such extreme lengths, but oh well, that's the joy of having children; lots of surprises."

"But how come you never told us?" Miwa asked.

"We were going to tell you when you were sixteen," Mrs. Yanagida said. "You found out earlier, obviously, but we had always planned on telling you. When you were little, I don't think you'd have understood the concepts I just told you."

Miwa sighed. Mrs. Yanagida looked at her, and said, "I have to get that hairbrush, do you want me to drive you home?"

"Sure," Miwa said. "Can I call you Mom instead of Aunt Yume?"

"If you want to, but let's see what Megumi thinks too, k?" Mrs. Yanagida said. Miwa nodded, and Mrs. Yanagida turned to Keiichiro and Pai, and said, "I'll get the hairbrush, so I should have it by sometime tonight. I think Miwa and I need to talk to Megumi, but since Moe is living with me, I think I'll tell her she went to visit my mom or something. I won't tell her about Ichigo."

"Thank you," Keiichiro said. "I appreciate you keeping Ichigo safe."

"You're welcome," Mrs. Yanagida said. "Miwa, let's go."

Miwa got up, and Sakura said, "I'll walk you two out."

The three of them left, and Ichigo said, "Wow…"

"Yeah…" the others said.

**Horrendous chapter ending there. The idea of Moe getting kidnapped is attributed to MarinaTwilight013, who finally got me off WRITER'S BLOCK ISLAND with this story. Thanks! Please review, minna!**


	35. Moe's Escape

**Kitten Love Chapter 35:**

**Moe's Escape**

Mrs. Yanagida came by later that night, and gave Kisshu Moe's hairbrush. He took it to Pai, and came back. "Now we wait," he told the others.

Ichigo sighed. "I can't help feeling responsible," she said.

"You shouldn't," Mrs. Yanagida said. "Moe and Miwa both involved themselves in this fight; you didn't force them to do it. You know what they're like; even if you told them it was too dangerous, they wouldn't care. As long as they can protect you, they're happy. They wouldn't be happy if you told them that they should stay out of the fighting. And at least till now, they've proved that they can fight on a similar level to you and Kisshu, despite their lack of powers."

Ichigo smiled slightly, and said, "Yeah, they're amazing. I don't think anyone could have better friends than I do."

"I agree," Sakura said. "I just hope you guys can get Moe back."

_**Meanwhile, in another dimension: **_Moe sighed. After she had refused to tell Mint and the Crimson Warrior anything, they had locked her up, and left. Now she was bored. _If they hadn't locked me up with nothing around, they'd be REALLY sorry they had left me alone, _Moe thought. _Boredom for me and Miwa is everyone else's worst nightmare._

Suddenly a thought occurred to her, and she thought, _Miwa and I are bonded; what if I could contact her? I know that's a Cyniclon thing, but I should at least try._

She closed her eyes, and focused on Miwa. Suddenly she felt a connection forming, and waited a minute before thinking, _Miwa? Can you hear me?_

To her excitement, she heard Miwa say, _Moe? Where are you?_

_Another dimension, _Moe said. _They locked me up, but they haven't done anything else._

_That's good, but how can I hear you? _Miwa asked.

_I think it's because we're bonded, so we can use telepathy- or something like it, _Moe said.

_If we can use telepathy, you should try it on Kisshu, _Miwa said. _Or I suppose you could try teleporting to me; if we're bonded, maybe telepathy isn't the only thing we can do._

_Okay, I'll try, _Moe said. _Wait- does my mom know?_

_Yep, but my adoptive parents don't, _Miwa said. _What if I go to the park nearby, and then you teleport to me? I'll let you know when I get there._

_Okay, _Moe said. She felt Miwa cut the connection, and waited. About ten minutes later, she heard, _Okay, I'm here. Focus on me, and then imagine yourself with me._

_Got it, _Moe said, and focused on the feeling she got from Miwa. Suddenly a clear image formed in her mind, and she saw Miwa in the park. Then she imagined herself into the image, and began to feel strange. For a minute she felt like she couldn't breathe, and then it felt like she was falling. She opened her eyes as she landed on the grass of the park.

Miwa was looking down at her, and Moe said, "We did it!"

"I'm so glad you're okay," Miwa said, hugging Moe when she got up. "I wonder if I can teleport?"

"Well, we're both bonded to Ichigo, you try teleporting us both to her," Moe said.

"Great idea!" Miwa said, and closed her eyes. Then she took Moe's hand, and they both felt the sensation of not being able to breathe for a moment.

They opened their eyes quickly as they heard Ichigo say, "Moe? You're back?"

"Yup," Moe said. "That cell apparently isn't teleport-proof."

"How did you manage to teleport out of there?" Kisshu asked.

"I tried using telepathy with Miwa, and it worked, and then she suggested teleporting to her, because we're bonded, and it worked," Moe said happily. "And then Miwa teleported us here, because we're bonded to Ichigo as well."

"I have to go tell Pai, otherwise he'll stay up all night again," Kisshu said. "And I'll get your hairbrush back, Moe." He teleported out.

"My hairbrush?" Moe asked.

"Pai can apparently extract DNA from hair, and he was going to use that to track you down," Ichigo said. "I'm so glad you're safe!" She came over and hugged Moe.

_**With Kisshu: **_Kisshu teleported into Keiichiro's lab, and found Pai studying something intently. "Pai?" Kisshu asked.

Pai jumped, then turned to glare at Kisshu. "What is so important?" he asked grouchily.

"Moe's back; she somehow teleported out of the Crimson Warrior's dimension, and Miwa then teleported the both of them into Ichigo's bedroom," Kisshu said.

Pai, to Kisshu's surprise, didn't look surprised. "I was about to contact you," he said. "I was analyzing Moe's DNA, and I found something interesting. Only half her DNA is human. The other half is Cyniclon. Whoever their father was, he wasn't human. Unless there's something Mrs. Yanagida isn't telling us, which I doubt. Let's go back to your place, they need to know."

Kisshu nodded, and they teleported to Ichigo's room. Sakura was in there too, and she and the girls looked up. "What happened?" Sakura asked. "Pai looks grim."

"Well, I found out why Moe and Miwa can teleport and use telepathy," Pai said.

"And?" Miwa asked.

"You're both half Cyniclon," Pai said. Moe and Miwa looked shocked. "But why don't we look like you do, then?" Moe asked.

"It's possible that the only thing your Cyniclon DNA gave you is powers, but I'm not sure," Pai said. "But I do know that whoever your father was, he wasn't human. We need to inform your mom. Sakura, did you call her yet?"

"I was just about to when you teleported in," Sakura said. "I'll go do that." She left, and Pai sighed.

"We need to find out what all you two can do with your powers," he said. "Besides teleporting and telepathy. And then we'll need to talk about training, because if your powers go out of control, things will get ugly."

"O-okay," Miwa said. "How do we find out what we can do?"

"Kisshu and I can do it," Pai said. "Kisshu, you figure out Miwa's powers, I'll find out what Moe can do. Ichigo, stay quiet."

Ichigo nodded, and Pai put his hand on Moe's forehead. After a minute he said, "You can fly, teleport, use telepathy, summon a weapon, and create energy blasts. For some reason you can't create Chimera Animas, but I'm pretty sure you don't want to do that anyways."

"Oh well," Moe said.

Kisshu put his hand on Miwa's forehead, and after a minute, said, "You can fly, teleport, use telepathy, summon a weapon, and heal. It looks like you can't create Chimera Animas either, and unless that's your weapon's ability, you won't be able to create energy blasts. So basically you and Moe have all the same abilities, except for healing and creating energy blasts."

"Wow…." the twins said.

"This is COOL!" Moe said as Sakura came back in.

"Yume's going to be here soon," she said. "What's cool?"

"Our new powers!" Miwa said. "We can both fly, teleport, use telepathy, summon weapons, and I can heal!"

"And I can create energy blasts!" Moe said excitedly.

"Just don't do it in the house," Sakura said.

"We already know that," Moe said. "It's a real shame we can't do this stuff at school, though…."

Sakura groaned as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," she sighed, and went downstairs.

She came back with Mrs. Yanagida, who immediately asked Moe, "Are you okay?"

"I'm GREAT!" Moe said. "And so is Miwa!"

"Uh-oh…." Mrs. Yanagida said.

"Your ex-boyfriend wasn't human," Miwa said. "So Moe and I are half Cyniclon, and now we've got all kinds of cool powers!"

"I should have listened to my parents when they said he was no good…" Mrs. Yanagida moaned. "Does this mean you'll be teleporting all over the place?"

"When Kisshu and I train them, we'll teach them some self-control as well," Pai said.

"Miwa, what are you going to do at home? Megumi doesn't know," Mrs. Yanagida said.

"Simple, I ask to come live with you and Moe, and then I can do all the stuff I want," Miwa said. "And then I'll be able to do training without Aunt Megumi asking where I'm going."

Mrs. Yanagida sighed. "Let's go ask," she said. "It's getting late anyways, and you two have school."

The twins sighed and waved to Ichigo, Kisshu, Pai, and Sakura, then left with their mother. "Well, I guess we wait," Kisshu said. "Still, that was a surprise."

"I'll say," Sakura said. "I never imagined they'd be twins, much less half-human twins."

"Me neither…." Ichigo said.

"You all should go to bed," Sakura said. "You've got school tomorrow."

Ichigo and Kisshu sighed as Pai teleported out, and started getting ready for bed.

**I know it's short, and it's also somewhat like Namida, but I like this idea, so I might use it more often, considering the amount of people who ask, "Are Moe and Miwa really human?"**

**Please Review!**


	36. Mischief

**Kitten Love Chapter 36:**

**Mischief**

The next day was a school day, so Ichigo and Kisshu got up and got ready. "It would be cool if I could use telepathy," Ichigo said wistfully.

"Have you ever tried?" Kisshu asked as they walked out the door.

"No, actually," Ichigo said.

"Focus on me and think what you want to say," Kisshu said.

Ichigo concentrated, and thought, _Can you hear me?_

She waited, and then heard, _Yup, I can hear you. This is great!_

_I'll say, _Ichigo said. _Now we can all talk at school; Moe and Miwa can use it too!_

_That's a good idea, _Kisshu said. _Private conversations will be much easier now._

_I can't wait to tell Moe and Miwa! _Ichigo said.

_They're waiting for us at the gates; you can tell them now, _Kisshu said.

Ichigo perked up and ran over to her friends. "Hey Ichigo, what's up?" Moe asked. "You look really happy."

"I can use telepathy," Ichigo said. "Now we can all do it!"

"YAHOO!" Miwa said.

"We should try to keep it down," Kisshu said as he reached them.

"Sorry," Miwa said. "We'd better get inside, the bell will ring soon."

They ran inside, and made it to their first period class just in time. Sitting down in their usual formation, they noticed the girls were starting up again. And today they seemed to have forgotten the rules mentioned at the assembly, because as soon as the teacher's back was turned, about half the girls in the class took out sheets of paper, and started writing on them. The four friends mentally groaned, as the other half of the girls noticed what their friends were doing, and started writing notes too.

The first girl to be done obviously was an idiot; she thought she could get Ichigo to give her note to Kisshu. Boy was she wrong. Ichigo took the note, and crumpled it up, then put it back on the girl's desk, as the girl got angry.

Ichigo ignored the death glare and went back to work- at least until something hit her in the back of the head. She decided to ignore that too, but it didn't work too well, since the girl threw something else at her. This time Ichigo turned around, and slammed her fist into the girl's nose, breaking it. "OW!" the girl shouted.

The teacher turned around and asked wearily, "What happened?"

"She was throwing stuff at me for not passing her note to Kisshu, so I punched her in the face," Ichigo said.

The teacher sighed. "I should have guessed by your absurdly low grades that you were an idiot, Miss Chikai," she said. "I've had it with you, so you may go to the principal's office, and explain why you were throwing stuff at Ichigo. And I'm going to call him to tell him you're coming, so don't even think about trying to get out of this."

She went to get the phone as the girl reluctantly got up and headed out. Ichigo sighed, and Kisshu asked telepathically, _You okay?_

_Yeah, I'm fine, but I wish the girls here would cut it out, _Ichigo replied.

_Same here, _Kisshu said.

They were both startled when Miwa said, _I've got a plan, let's talk at lunch._

_K, _the other three said, as the bell rang.

Two periods later, the lunch bell rang, and they headed for the roof. As they sat down, Ichigo asked, "What's your plan, Miwa?"

"Let's switch to telepathy," Miwa said.

_Okay, _Kisshu said. _So what's up?_

_I was thinking, and I know we all want to kill the girls if they bug us one more time, _Miwa said. _My idea is to lock ourselves in the room where the loudspeakers are, and announce to the school that the next girl to harass Kisshu will die the most horrible death the four of us can invent._

_I like it, but won't we get in trouble this time? _Ichigo asked.

_It'll be worth it if it works, _Moe said.

_Alright, _Kisshu said. _When are we doing this?_

_Now, _Miwa said. _Let's go; the loudspeaker room is next to the office._

_Then we'll have to be careful, _Ichigo said, getting up.

The others got up too, and went back down into the school. Miwa lead the way to a small room, and looked around, then tried the door. Finding it was locked, she took a hairpin out of her pocket, and picked the lock, then went in, followed by Ichigo, Moe, and Kisshu. Kisshu closed and locked the door, then said telepathically, _How do we do this?_

Miwa went over to a machine, and told the others, _This should do it, I think we just have to turn it on and use the microphone._

_Then let's do it, _Kisshu said.

Miwa smirked, and pressed a button. They heard a click, and Miwa picked up the microphone. Then she began speaking into it. "This is Honjou Miwa, and my friends and I have a message for the girls at this school," she said. "The next girl to harass Kisshu- or any other one of us four- will die the most horribly violent death we can invent. Remember this well, and as for Chikai Tsuki, well- we know where you live." Then she cut the connection.

"We should get out of here," Ichigo said.

"The ventilation shafts," Moe said.

"Why can't I just teleport?" Kisshu asked.

"Too much risk of being found out," Moe said, and took the cover off a large ventilation shaft, then climbed in, followed by the others. As they were crawling away, they heard the door to the little room burst open, and the principal groaning, "WHY did they have to do that!?"

The four giggled silently before crawling off. When they were far enough away, Miwa said telepathically, _We should try to get out to the roof. I think I know where to go, come on._

_K, _the others said, and followed Miwa to another shaft, which led to what looked like a chute. _How are we going to get up that? _Ichigo asked.

_I could teleport out and then pull you guys out, _Kisshu suggested.

_That sounds good, _Miwa said. Kisshu nodded, then teleported. A minute later, the grate on top of the chute was pulled off, and Kisshu reached a hand in. Ichigo took it, and he pulled her out. Then he did the same for Moe and Miwa.

_That worked well, _Ichigo commented.

Kisshu heard footsteps on the stairs to the roof, and said aloud, "Uh-oh…"

The principal came out of the stairwell, and said, "'Uh-oh' is an understatement."

"Are we in trouble?" Moe asked innocently. "We were just trying to help the idiots here understand that harassing people isn't okay, since YOUR idea didn't work."

"Do you have to threaten people with imminent doom?" the principal moaned.

"Yep!" Kisshu said cheerfully. "Hey, here's an idea: If this announcement doesn't do anything, THEN you can punish us. But if it works, we get off without getting punished."

The principal appeared to be considering, then sighed and said, "Fine. If this works, you get off easy. If it doesn't, you all get suspended for two weeks."

"Okay!" Ichigo said cheerfully.

"Is there some reason we couldn't hear a thing in there until Miwa turned on the loudspeaker system?" the principal asked.

"We can all use telepathy," Miwa said. "And guess what?"

"Do I want to know?" the principal sighed.

"Moe might be able to incinerate people soon!" Miwa said happily.

"I KNEW you were lying when you told the police you were human," the principal grumbled. "I take it you two are aliens?"

"We're half human," Moe said. "And guess what else?"

"Oh boy…." the principal said.

"We're twins!" Moe and Miwa said together.

"I'm never going to have a peaceful day again…." the principal groaned.

Moe and Miwa burst out laughing at the look on his face. "Kisshu says we've got weapons," Moe said when they calmed down a bit.

"I draw the line at weapons in my school," the principal said. "Hand-to-hand, fine. Weapons, NOT fine."

"I suppose no incinerating people either, right?" Miwa sighed.

"WHY would you think that would be okay? It's ILLEGAL!" the principal shouted.

Moe and Miwa ignored him, and said, "Kisshu, can we learn to fly after school?"

"Sure, but I think we need to also talk about keeping the powers under control where there are lots of humans," Kisshu said. "I know you like fighting, but it's better to stick to human fighting while we're at school- unless you want the lot of us to be found out."

"Kill-joy," Miwa grumbled. "I wanted to hover over the doorway and scare people- namely him." She pointed to the principal.

He gulped as Moe said, "I just want to incinerate people."

"Pai was right, we need to work on self-control," Kisshu said. "Let's work on that and flying after school."

"School is almost over," the principal sighed. "You might as well head home."

"YAY!" Moe and Miwa said, and got their stuff, then ran off. Ichigo and Kisshu followed, leaving the principal to wallow in self-pity.

**I think that was pretty funny. Tell me what you think! Review!**


	37. Self-Control

**Kitten Love Chapter 37:**

**Self-Control **

As they were walking, Miwa asked, "Kisshu, are we learning how to fly today?"

"No, we're working on self-control," Kisshu said. "I know you both love having new powers, but unless you want to get the lot of us killed, you can't show them off. I know it's going to be hard if the girls start up again, and it's tempting to use teleporting in any situation, but unless you want the police on our tail, you're going to have to learn self-control."

The twins sighed. "Where are we doing this?" Moe asked.

"The training room in my ship," Kisshu said. "Keiichiro will have a fit if we use the basement, and the parks around here have too many people. I'll let Pai know, he has to be there too." He concentrated for a minute, then said, "Pai's going to meet us at our home."

"K," Ichigo said. "We're not too far away."

They continued walking, and soon reached Ichigo's house. When they went in, Pai was waiting. "What did you need, Kisshu?" he asked.

"Help teaching these two self-control," Kisshu said. "And hopefully, teaching Moe that incinerating people you don't like isn't a good idea."

"Did something happen?" Pai asked.

"No, she just told the principal that she can't wait to start incinerating people," Kisshu said.

Pai sighed, and said, "You're right, they do need to learn self-control."

"I thought we'd take them to the training room on the ship," Kisshu said.

"Good plan," Pai said. "Ichigo, are you coming?"

"I'd like to," Ichigo said. Kisshu took her hand and Moe's, and Pai took Miwa's. Then they teleported to a large empty room with a high ceiling.

When they landed, Pai said, "I just thought of something. We should teach Moe how to use energy blasts, since that can go out of control quickly."

"I guess you're right," Kisshu said. "I'll go get one of the targets." He teleported out and returned with a target board, then said, "We'll be using this, k?"

"Okay," Moe said. "What do I have to do?"

"Picture a ball of energy forming between your hands," Kisshu said. "Concentration is key in this. You have to want it to happen more than anything."

Moe nodded, and closed her eyes. Then she held her hands up to chest height, and concentrated. To the others' surprise, a small ball of energy formed between her hands, getting bigger. She opened her eyes, and smiled. "Now aim it at the target," Kisshu said.

Moe did so, and the energy ball flew at the target. It exploded on contact, and the others shielded their faces. "Sorry about that," Moe said sheepishly.

"That's pretty much what's supposed to happen," Pai said. "It looks like you're not as powerful as Kisshu, but that's not surprising, considering he's the best there is."

"So what happens when you do that, Kisshu?" Moe asked.

"It goes up in smoke, and there's nothing left," Kisshu said. "But that's my weapons' ability; creating energy blasts. I can't actually do what you just did; I have to use my swords."

"I wonder if we have swords," Miwa said. "You said we can both summon a weapon, right?"

"Yes," said Pai. "It's similar to the energy blast thing, but summoning a weapon doesn't necessarily mean you get exactly what you imagined. Your weapon will be whatever it is that comes out of your soul, not what comes out of your mind. Try it."

Moe and Miwa closed their eyes, and concentrated. Suddenly Moe threw her right arm out to the side, and a blue-white light appeared in her hand. The light lengthened out into a sword, with a white blade and a blue hilt with wave patterns on it.

To everyone's surprise, Miwa suddenly held out her arms, then crossed her wrists the way Kisshu did. Two yellow lights appeared in her hands, and formed into what looked like daggers. The blades were silver, and the hilts were black with yellow lightning bolts on them.

Moe and Miwa opened their eyes, and Moe started looking ecstatic. "I've got a sword!" she said happily.

Pai came over and looked at the sword, then said, "I think it has water abilities. Miwa, I'm guessing your daggers have lightning abilities. That's perfect, since you fight as a team. Now you can electrocute people."

"I LIKE that idea," Moe said.

"NOT people at your school," Pai said sternly.

"Aww…." Moe said.

Kisshu sighed. "The principal already told you, no weapons," he said. "You don't want to get expelled, right?"

"No…" Miwa sighed. "So what's next?"

"I can teach you how to fight with your weapons, but Moe's going to be learning from Pai," Kisshu said. "I'm not good with only one sword. Pai is, though. He can use a sword as well as his fans, he just chooses to use his fans more often."

"That's fine," Moe said. "Are we starting that now?"

"No, since you don't know how to fly," Kisshu said. "You wanted to learn how to fly, remember?"

"Kisshu, maybe we should find out what their weapons can do first," Pai said.

"Good point," Kisshu said.

Before they could do that, however, Ichigo's cell phone rang, and she saw it was Sakura. "Hi Mom, what's up?" she asked.

"_Where are you!?" _Sakura asked. _"I got a call from Yume, asking if Moe and Miwa were here. I had to tell her I hadn't seen you."_

"Sorry," Ichigo said. "We're on the ship, and Moe and Miwa are learning more about their new powers. Do you want us to come home?"

"_If you don't mind," _Sakura said. _"And next time, please tell one of us where you are; we've been pretty worried."_

"Sorry, we'll be there soon," Ichigo said, and hung up. She looked at the others, and said, "Apparently we need to go home to reassure our moms that we're still alive."

"Aww… no flying?" Miwa asked.

"Maybe tomorrow," Kisshu said. "For now we should go home." He took Ichigo's hand and Miwa's, and Pai took Moe's. Then they teleported back to Ichigo's house.

Sakura was waiting, and Ichigo said, "We'll call next time."

"Good," Sakura said. "I called Yume and told her you'd be here soon, so she's coming over to drive you two home."

"Couldn't we just teleport?" Miwa asked.

"A bit late now," Sakura said. Moe and Miwa sighed.

A while later, the doorbell rang, and Sakura went to get it. It was Mrs. Yanagida, and she sighed when she saw Moe and Miwa. "Could you two call me next time you go to train?" she asked. "It's worrying when you don't come home."

"Sorry Mom," Miwa said. "Are we grounded again?"

"No, but please don't do this again," Mrs. Yanagida said. "Let's go home."

"K," the twins said. "Bye guys."

"Bye," Ichigo, Kisshu and Pai said.

After they left, Pai said, "I should probably go home- though I'm not happy with Keiichiro's new sign."

"Sign?" Ichigo asked.

"He put a sign on the kitchen doorway that says, "Pai: _**Keep Out!**_ " Pai said gloomily.

Ichigo and Kisshu burst out laughing. "That's perfect!" Kisshu said. "But it didn't work too well when Ichigo did it; will it work this time?"

"Yes, because Keiichiro says he won't hit me with a broom; he'll hit me with a cast-iron frying pan," Pai said, still gloomy.

"I'd kind of like to see that," Ichigo said.

"I'd like to get a picture and give it to Lettuce," Kisshu said, snickering.

"You'd die," Pai said.

"Oh?" Kisshu snickered. "Last time I checked, you couldn't even beat me in hand-to-hand combat. And I was technically going easy on you. You don't have any chance of beating me, much less killing me."

"Besides, it's not nice to kill your brother," Ichigo said. "Would you actually kill Kishy?"

"No," Pai sighed. "I just like to keep him in line by saying that. Not that it works…"

"Good to know," Kisshu smirked. "So now I can tease you, blackmail you, and play pranks on you all I want, right?"

"Wrong," Sakura said. "Just because he won't kill you doesn't mean you can torment him, Kisshu."

Kisshu drooped.

**I'm well aware it's too short and has a bad ending, but I'm feeling braindead again… HELP! Review with help, or just PM me with help. Pwease? *gives readers the imacutelittleneko face***


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